Freelancer Alpha 1-1
by NGTM-R
Summary: A somewhat older, more worldly Edison Trent's logs. First day on the job for this LSF secret agent lady? Donau getting blown up? Rogues all over the place? Oh god, what have I gotten into?
1. The Fall

"Essay 14, we're picking up unknown contacts on long-range sensors. We're dispatching a fighter wing to escort you out of the system."

"Do you always leave that thing on?"

"It's a Freeport. They enforce a no-fighting rule on the station, but right outside the docking bay you could have Corsairs and Outcasts throwing down. It's worth knowing what local space traffic is and is doing." This guy must not get out to the Freeports very often.

* * *

"President Jacobi has asked the LSF to investigate the sudden destruction of Freeport 7. No word yet on whether it was accidental or a deliberate attack...

* * *

"Alert! Unknown ships have breached the perimeter! Man all stations!"

Guy owes me money. Well, he'd better come too then. Start dragging him in a half-run for the launch bays.

Never actually heard that sound before. Not in person anyways. I've heard it on sim tapes. It's never a good sound, the sound of a torpedo impact...

The door won't open. FUCK! There's vacuum on the other side, we're deep in the station, that shuddering...the station's gotta be coming apart. There's an escape pod rack a deck down. Gotta move!

* * *

"Officially the Liberty Security Force maintains there is no proof Freeport 7's destruction is deliberate..."

* * *

Not deliberate my ass. No ship. No money. Can't fly. Can't run anything. Can't even fight, not that I ever did much of that. Can't get any worse.


	2. Donau

Dad used to say that as long as you don't care if you sell your soul to do it, you can get anything you want.

He was probably right. All I want is a ship. All I need to do to get it is to put myself in debt to Liberty Security Force commander name of Jun'ko Zane, alias "Juni", which I can probably work off running a few missions for her. Combat missions.

Told her I'd think about it. I'm going to say yes, a pilot without a ship is a waste of space, but I've gotta work myself up to it. Never liked flying combat.

The Rheinlander cruiser _Donau_ is due in pretty soon, too. Big peace overture while Rheinland is busy screwing around in the Border Worlds against treaty.

Told Juni yes. It's a simple job now, low-risk, escort food and medical supplies via the trade lane route from Fort Bush to Pittsburgh, through the debris fields. Convoy has a regular escort flight but they're a man short, regs say they need four and they only have three. She gave me an old Starflyer; a couple of Justice guns, Mark 1s. Nothing to be proud of, but it's a ship, and it'll handle decently in a furball if that happens.

I'm supposed to meet the patrol, Gamma 6, spaceside. Or at least its CO, King; the other half of it's at Fort Bush.

* * *

The _Donau_ was there when I launched.

The _Donau_ is dead. Five fighters, superheavies; I didn't recognize the type. They killed it with a missile volley and then jumped the escorts.

"Newark Station this is Liberty Security Patrol Gamma 6! We are engaging the enemy!"

And suddenly I'm right there, back in the combat sims, and there's a superheavy in front of me and I'm pounding his tail. His shields are down and he's trailing bits of superheated armor material. He's tough, but he can't shake me. I know he can't shake me, the same way I know where my limbs are without looking, the same way I know how to breathe.

I never liked combat. He's tough, tough enough that ordinarily he'd be able to just ignore a gnat like me. He'd jump to Cruise and we'd never see him again. But King hit him with a cruise disruptor. He's not going anywhere. He still ignores me, and turns to fight King, salvoing heavy guns. King catches a couple shots, and they knock him around a bit, his Patriot light fighter makes him a hard target.

Keep pounding. Something flares; the superheavy's drive chamber is breached. He's leaking plasma. He suddenly realizes that he HAS to pay attention to the Starflyer in his aft arc and starts jinking.

"Newark, we need support here!"

"Gamma 6, interceptors are scrambling. The _Colorado_ and its escort are inbound."

But he can't shake me. His left wing snaps off at the root. He starts to tumble out of control. A series of my shots go through the hole his wing left. One of them hits something explosive. The superheavy tears apart.

"Freelancer Alpha, splash one." Calm. Controlled.

I never liked combat. Because this fighter pilot stuff? I'm _really fucking good at it._ And killing people isn't the most honorable of professions, no matter how you slice it. Hell, I don't even have a cause I'm doing it for to hide behind.

It takes less than five seconds to glue myself to the tail of another superheavy who's tangling with one of the _Donau_'s escorts. I work the superheavy down to almost nothing, but the Rheinlander gets the kill with a cockpit shot. Fine by me, I already have another target. He's shields-down and dragging his ass, a stream of flame coming out of the base of his tailplane. I hammered at the source with my guns. Make it quick and clean, go for the damage.

His fuel tanks went up and he blew apart. "Freelancer Alpha, splash two."

"This is Newark Station. Radar is clear. SAR, report. Did you recover any survivors from the _Donau_?"

Deep breaths. Try to control the panting. I wasn't panting a moment before. My hands are shaking. You only shake when you're safe. Adrenaline crash. "Trent, King. That was a hell of a show you just put on. Two out of five with the lightest thing on the field."

"Acknowledged, King. We've got a convoy to catch." I don't want to talk about it, okay? Let's just move on.

"Roger, uploading coordinates."


	3. Trent Didn't Start The Feud

Every normal man must be tempted at times to spit on his hands, hoist the black flag, and begin to slit throats. Philosopher's quote old enough to predate Sirius. But then, there's just being a dick.

You've reached the point of pure dickishness when you start stealing food you don't need. Yeah, sure, there are two truisms to spaceside: everybody's gotta eat, and everybody's gotta breathe. But the Rogues have food; I should know, I ran to Buffalo Base a couple of times with people looking to work there. So they disrupted the trade lane and came at us in the Pittsburgh debris field. And this is one combat action I'll have no problems with, scratch four. King wanted to know why I didn't mention I was a hot hand with a fighter.

Didn't feel like bragging, I said. Not true, but hell, he doesn't need to know my head. The Rogues have a base, he thinks, and he asked me to sign on for a flight to hunt it down. I never liked the Rogues, honestly. They were bitchy about my runs, and they never gave the impression they had their shit together. The Lane Hackers, the Blood Dragons, the Corsairs? Those guys come at you, tight formations, accurate fire. They know what they're doing, they're disciplined, if they say "drop the cargo" then you drop the cargo. The Rogues...they're just a bunch of assholes too antisocial or psychotic to live in normal society, and too useful to the big boys for local knowledge or cannon fodder to kill off.

And it was a Rogue that killed Tristan on my first run to Liberty, all those years ago.

Never decided I needed to settle that score. But the Rogues ain't happy with me now that I'm lighting them up anyways. Settling accounts now is as good a reason as any other.

* * *

That prison ship looks bad. Venting on at least three decks, several fires. Rogues attacking it probably want to rescue their friends, but they've got just as good a chance of killing them all with the way they attacked it. Morons and sociopaths combined is not a good anything.

I picked up another gun on Pittsburgh, a Starpulse laser. Amazing how much difference one gun makes; they were going down like flies. Six kills out of ten, with three other fighters on the field, all of them Liberty Patriots that are nominally better than mine. King wants to know how I ever lost a ship. I told him I wasn't in it at the time. The Rogues came in on a vector, and knowing how dumb they are it's a direct line to their base.

* * *

They were that stupid. The base...two weapons platforms and an armored depot. Not big. Lots of defending fighters. I splashed two, they were too interested in me, but mostly I went for the platforms and the base. It was too heavily armored for my guns to even make a dent, but the defensive turrets were more vulnerable and when the LSF brought in torpedo-armed fighters to kill the base, they could make their runs in peace.

King was impressed. So was Juni. I hate to think I'm doing this for a pretty face, but the truth is she _does_ have a pretty face, and a pretty tight-fitting uniform jumpsuit. I'm not even thirty yet. Granted there was Tristan, but...hell if I know what Tristan was to me besides a fine second seater. We never worked that out.

Picked up a gun off one of the dead Rogue fighters while I was casting around the field for anything I might want. It ought to be worth something, if it's not better than what I have. King said I should talk to DSE or the Liberty Police Incorporated guys for jobs. I don't feel like running more combat missions right now, thanks. I don't have jump codes out of the system; Juni wants to keep me close.

Heh.

Gonna fly around a bit, get a feel for the place. I haven't been to Manhattan in years.


	4. Welcome to the Big Leagues, Trent

"Another combat mission?"

Juni isn't happy. Well, that's not the exercise here. "Look, Trent, what's the matter with you? You're not a coward. You're not bad at this either. King had me do a background check to make sure you weren't some commando after your first couple actions. You've been around the block in the last four years and you've logged your share of kills, nothing like last night."

"Don't like killing people. Imagine you woke up one morning and discovered...I don't know, you were really good at sleeping your problems away. It's like that. I'm good at it. I don't like it." Probably a bad call. Looks like she's winding up to punch me. Step back... Ow. Not far enough. "The fuck, Zane? I'm not being literal. It's analogy. I'd take King for that much of a knuckledragger, not you."

"I was checking if you had a reset button. You owe me Trent." Ah, there's the whip hand. "Look, you have to capture a guy, not kill anyone. But I'll be honest with you; we're not fighting nice people. You may not like killing them but they like trying to kill you or other folks. People are alive, happy, healthy, because of our willingness to do violence. That's what it means to be working with the LSF."

"He's a smuggler. Not an Outcast or a Red Hessian." I object.

"That's why we're talking him down soft. Come on Trent, suck it up. One mission. You'll see I'm right." She's...trying to be reassuring?

And I'm trying to feel reassured. Don't be stupid me. She's Liberty Security Force, she plays people for a living. But she's right. I owe her. "Okay.

She pats my shoulder. Her hand lingers a moment, to my surprise. And though she covers it so fast I'm not sure I actually saw it, I think it surprised her too.

* * *

"We've set up a trap at Pueblo Station." Juni's voice. I haven't seen her fly yet. I know she has a ship, I've seen it; a Liberty Navy Defender. I've just never seen her fly it. Still, she is a Commander, she only turns up for the really important stuff in person I expect. "You're the backstop. If he gets past Pueblo, you need to stop him. Scan everything that comes out of the Trade Lane from Pueblo."

A few silent moments as we position ourselves. "Convoy. There, that Patriot. He's squawking DSE. DSE-" King starts.

"-doesn't use Patriots. I'm on it." I finish. Patriot. Liberty Navy and Police light fighter. Much more agile than a Rogue Bloodhound. Close end from his aft. "Unknown Deep Space Engineering convoy, this Freelancer Alpha One Dash One, I have orders from the Liberty Security Force to scan your cargo."

The two big transports keep plodding along. The guy in the Patriot...twitches. Just a tiny motion of his ship, like he involuntarily tightened his grip on the stick and shifted just a little bit... Okay, he's tense. Lots of people get tense when scanned. This is Liberty and the LPI don't have a great reputation for being solid, non-corrupt police.

But if he's tense, I'm tense. Hit the scan switch. A hold...full of contraband alien artifacts.

Son of a bitch.

"Unknown DSE Patriot, _cut your engines_." And he's off to the races, going to max power and kicking in his burners. "King, we got a live one!"

The Patriot guy can shake me, something he owes to his ship rather than his skills. He gets some shots off in return but he's not feeling too happy about it as I'm cutting him to shreds and he can't manage to actually get behind me. His engines go _pop_. King orders him to surrender or be destroyed. He starts...he starts whining over the channel at us about who he is, his lawyers, etc. He's not Ashcroft. Ashcroft doesn't sound this petulant.

Great. We caught some _other_ artifact smuggler. Then Juni's on the comm. "King, Trent! Ashcroft broke through our forces at Pueblo. We've lost contact with the station. Get there as fast as you can!"

Holy hell.

* * *

Pueblo's still there. I can see it from the trade lane before we arrive. It looks reasonably intact, it's not wreckage or breaking up...

Then we exit the trade lane. Pueblo is venting from literally every habitable space on the station. King voices what we're both thinking with a "Dear God."

"Pueblo, what's your status?" King asks.

I'm not sure I expect Pueblo to actually answer; it seems inconceivable anyone on the station is still alive. But answer it does. "We have fires on multiple decks, life support is failing, and half the crew is dead or wounded! We're tracking six hostiles, defense grid is down, and we can't take much more!"

"Trent, go for the ones attacking the station." King orders.

"Roger." Is this what Juni meant? God, what have I gotten myself into? Three Rogues are attacking the station. Three others have turned towards us. I pick two targets, trading fire with one coming at me as I head towards the station. His shields pop, and I hammer his cockpit until it cracks. His ship goes past on a ballistic course, pilot dead. "Freelancer Alpha, splash one."

The next guy is slow to realize he has a hostile in his aft arc and dies in seconds. The other two break off from the station attack to come after me then, but don't last much longer. King takes his two down efficiently enough.

"Pueblo, what happened?"

"They didn't come out of the trade lane; in from one of the asteroid fields. The transports ran into the Silverton Field, but we tagged one with a tracking device before it got away. Uploading now. Good hunting, LSF."

"They _will_ pay for this, Pueblo." King promises.

Pueblo had a population of twelve hundred. Six hundred of them are dead or hurt. God, this really is what Juni meant. Welcome to the big leagues, Trent. We play for keeps here.

"Trent, we've gotta stop Ashcroft. You with me?"

"...Yeah I am King. Give me coords."

* * *

"King, what happened?" Juni demands.

King lays it out, but not completely. "Zane," I add, "Pueblo Station got hit hard. They lost life support to almost half their decks."

"Copy. I'm ordering the _Rio Grande_ to Pueblo and having them scramble several fighter wings to support you. Don't be crazy, either of you. Wait for the backup."

We're not too far out. Juni or not, those Navy pukes better show up soon because if Ashcroft is willing to kill hundreds of people to smuggle some stupid artifacts that just look pretty and _aren't even worth that much money-_

Calm, Trent. You've gotta stay calm. "There's an old Ageria Tech facility in the middle of the field, they're hanging out there King."

"How do you know?"

"Because if I was him, that's where I'd be. We're coming up on it...Four Bloodhounds, two transports! Here we go!" Roll into a fight with four Rogue fighters. These are definitely a better class of Rogue; they seem to know how to actually use their ships. These guys may be the first serious pilots I've met in Liberty and it's actually proving a challenge to keep my shields up. Taps on the burners and wild maneuvering, taking quick shots where I can.

"This is Navy flight Zeta to LSF Gamma Six, you boys need some help?"

"Obliged Zeta. We're looking for a criminal named Ashcroft - we want him alive." King says.

"Copy." Oh, but those Defenders tear it up. Big, slow-firing plasma cannon; weapons that favor marksmen, and these Navy pilots are marksmen, shredding the Bloodhounds with precise fire in head-to-heads, covering each other from the more maneuverable Bloodhounds with the classics of scissors and Thatch Weave.

"There's Ashcroft-he's activating cruise engines! Disruptor firi-miss!"

Dammit, King! "Going to cruise, we can't let him get away." King jumps to cruise after me. The Navy wing leaves one pilot to sit on the transports and vector in another wing to them and they're after us.

Silverton Field's full of little bits of stone, bouncing off my shields as I go. It scares novices, moving at cruise through a field like this, but you get used to it. "Coming up on the second half of that Ageria facility."

"You know this place pretty well." King observes.

"I had to hide from some Xenos in here once." I reply. How I first met the Rogues and took a couple jobs from them, four years ago. "There's a disturbance around here somewhere, never got close, but it could be a jump hole. Can't let him get to that."

"Copy-there he is! Trent, get Ashcroft!" The Navy guys have my back. Never been so happy to have a wing of Navy fighters around before. Ashcroft tries to fake his surrender at one point, but I keep firing; he punches out. A tractor beam later and one more Rogue fighter who comes blazing at me and we're headed back to New York. Juni's waiting.

King's hoping this'll help about the issues with the artifact trade when Ashcroft talks. I don't care; this guy was willing to mass murder to smuggle some lousy rocks. Flush him out an airlock.

Juni calls us up, wanting to know if we're all right. We are. She's worried King killed the suspect. "Negative," King replies. "Trent's got him on ice in his cargo hold. It's better than he deserves."

"He'll get what he deserves, but in the meantime, he'll tell us what we need to know to prevent this ever happening again." Juni replies. "Meet me on Manhattan. And be aware some of the Rogues might try to spring him before you get here. Juni out."

* * *

We're going to the _Missouri_, in a change of plans. It's near Zone 21; the Liberty Navy's testing and training ground, no civvies allowed. Okay.

We exit the trade lane near Fort Bush. It's empty. No traffic. No police wing up-damn. Rogues. King bitches out Fort Bush. I focus on killing the enemy and get two before Fort Bush coats the area in a fine layer of police Patriots. The Rogues must be desperate to get or get rid of what Ashcroft knows if they're willing to do what they just did.

The _Missouri_ queries us. King answers, then breaks off to help a convoy somewhere. Juni's waiting on the flight deck. She brought a squad of Navy heavies. I don't particularly mind that. "He's unconscious in my hold. All yours."

Juni waves the heavies on. "The bounty, and the jumpgate codes...plus an extra bonus. You did a good job out there. You deserve it."

"What happens to Ashcroft?" As much fun as it is to eye Juni, there's a Defender too. And if I'm going to keep doing this job...I need bigger guns. A Defender and some of those Lavablades would be a good start.

"He'll be interrogated. I've got to go on assignment, but don't go far. I might need you again soon." She's definitely playing me this time. Ah well, we're both more in control it appears.

I turned to catch her attention as she walked by. "Juni...if you're gonna keep this up, with me flying combat for you this way, what'll it take to get me into one of those Defenders?"

She smiles. "I think I can manage it before I go."


	5. Texas

Liberty ain't what it used to be. That's not exactly a huge, earth-shattering statement mind, but it's true nonetheless. Juni got me a Defender, tricked out like the Navy flies them, for free. I'll be in debt to her forever at this rate.

Texas is a hellhole. The crime rate soared after the Dallas disaster, long before I was born. All the money in Texas was government R&amp;D money, and Dallas, a station working on an advanced jumpgate physics project...

It left behind two clouds of radiation and dark matter, the Pequena Negra and the Grande Negra, when Dallas had its accident. They're massive navigation hazards and they'll shred ship hulls. The government money dried up overnight, and Texas descended into poverty and crime. LPI and the Bounty Hunters Guild both have big operations in Texas, with LPI running two prison ships here. But Liberty Police Incorporated is using the population to make goods as slave labor while they're incarcerated, and both they and the Bounty Hunters can be bribed too easily by any serious criminal. LPI in New York have to maintain some semblance of professionalism.

I intend to do some exploring around Texas, but we'll see if I even try to fly into them. A lot of it will do with whether anyone else does. It'll also depend a lot on whether I can get a berth somewhere. I'm not sleeping on Houston, or LPI Sugarland and LPI Huntsville. There's a Junker base, but they're neutral in the sense they let you land; you have to protect yourself from the Rogues and Outcasts. I might have to see if I can get a berth on the _LNS Mississippi_.

* * *

Penetrated the Pequena Negra briefly. It's everything it was claimed to be. I only made it about five klicks in before I turned back from hull damage. Picked up some wrecks on radar that might be worth visiting, but not this time.

* * *

Inbound to the South Dallas Debris Field in company with a flight of Navy fighters. They were surprisingly happy to have me tag along.

* * *

Had a pretty sharp fight with some Xenos in Starfliers. They're no match for Navy heavies, but they're hard to tag. Once you put a couple good volleys into them they go up, no questions asked. I'm not particular upset by this; Xenos will go after me for being from Bretonnia as much as they'll go after anyone else who isn't native-born Liberty. Some Rogues decided to stumble into the fight while it was in progress and got shellacked as well. The Navy flight leader invited me back to the _Mississippi_ for drinks.

Christina Henderson. Why is it always women in uniform? She's nice enough, doesn't have that exotic Kusari look going for her like Juni does, but still good company and pretty. She's gotta be at least five years older than me, though. We didn't really flirt, just talked shop. I got my ship fixed up, and the _Mississippi_ seems happy to have me aboard for a night in exchange for a little impromptu patrol work with them, so I'm happy enough.

I got a message asking if I was going to be dropping by Pueblo again. Apparently they want to see me. Next destination there, I guess.


	6. Downtime in Colorado

"Freelancer Alpha One Dash One, this is Battleship _Mississippi_. Good luck out there. Lieutenant Commander Henderson says to look her up if you're in the neighborhood."

"Copy _Mississippi_. Fly safe." Outbound to New York again, and from there to Colorado and Pueblo Station.

Christ, there's a half-dozen Outcast Daggers at the jump gate into New York, and nobody else! I'm not even trying to fight that; I burn for the jump gate and make it just before my shields fail.

* * *

"Freelancer Alpha One One, this is Pueblo Station. You have priority clearance, bay one." Now I know what a hero's welcome means. It wasn't a big crowd, only a dozen or so, but they did cheer. I got kissed rather forcefully, which isn't as much fun as it sounds. The drinks were free. Everyone wanted to chat. The bed's free too. So, it is implied, is any company I may want to keep in it.

Yeah that's a little creepy. Still, the Silverton Field still has silver in it for mining, for people who are patient. And Pueblo's accommodations and everyone being happy to see me is nice. Ageria Tech's stationed a small combat wing here too, so I can always fly with them if I want.

* * *

One little problem with the Silverton Field. It doesn't just have Silver in it; it has Xenos, and they aren't any more rational than any other Xenos. Killing people for the thirty square meters of silver I could fit in my hold sounds a little too Biblical, and I'm not looking for fights. The _LNS Rio Grande_'s up the trade lane from here, so I'm going to fly up and get the lay of the land from her flight team; the Navy's pilots like you if you're flying a Defender and I did work with a few of them. We'll see what's cracking around the system.

We've got Lane Hackers, Xenos, and Rogues insystem, but the Navy regards the system as quiet. LPI apparently has the opposite view and takes it because Lane Hackers regularly hand them their asses, which is not a surprise to me. The Lane Hackers never struck me as fine pilots, but they've got a degree of discipline Rogues and Xenos lack, and they've also got Border Worlds Dagger light fighters, which are not to be disrespected lightly.

Denver's still as boring as ever, but there are border worlds systems nearby...I might take a quick jaunt over there, see what's cracking, but I don't recall the border worlds having much to run. The Copperton Field might be quieter than the Silverton, but Copper's not worth as much. (Except apparently to Ageira, who's shipping it in from Leeds and will pay 400 a cubic meter!) There's no reason to go into the Alamosa Field unless you're looking for fights; no useable minerals there, but lots of Lane Hacker and Rogue activity. Only the Bounty Hunters patrol out past Denver, into the Cheyenne Field, but there's nothing out there worth having either.

I'll make a quick circuit of the system and then check in at Pueblo again.

* * *

Spent a week working out of Pueblo, mainly flying either to Copperton and mining when it was quiet, or scrambling with the station defense wing to drive off Lane Hackers who got crazy ideas. Then Juni called.

If I'm gonna keep doing this secret agent stuff, I'm gonna need to get a gun, so I'm headed back to New York, but I'm going to bypass Manhattan and stop off at Detroit Arms.

Imagine my surprise when I stop by, and I found it's a wholly owned subsidiary of Ageira Technologies. They just _gave_ me a gun, a match-quality of the kind that goes for a thousand creds, for saving Pueblo Station. Since Pueblo is Ageira's headquarters...

Note to self: Ageira Technologies remembers its friends. Off to see Juni.

* * *

Lonnigan's not giving me my million credits. He practically held me up when I landed, waving a gun, talking crazy talk; Liberty was out to get him. He'd killed a man to escape; it was about the artifacts, somehow. He said he was warning me because he felt I was owed something. Then he ran off.

Juni's in the California system, on California Minor, at the terraforming station. I heard about that project. I guess it's time to go exploring again. She got in touch with me direct...when I told her I'd think about it, she was insistent. Needed me for it, she said. We'll see.

* * *

Brandon Rowlett. He was on Freeport Seven with me. We met on the rescue transport and played cards a bit. I just saw him die.

He said he was being followed; that other Freeport Seven survivors were disappearing. Brandon begged me to meet him on Los Angeles. A wing of Navy Defenders turned up just after...they said he was under arrest, and ordered him to cut his engines.

He ran. They killed him with missile volleys. I was only addressed as "civilian ship" and told this was a classified Navy operation, and to keep my mouth shut. They didn't seem to know who I was.

What the hell is going on?

* * *

Ran into a flight of five or six Rogues over Mojave, at the Trade Lane branch. The Liberty Navy doesn't recognize me, but these guys sure did; they knew I'd captured Sean Ashcroft and they said as much before coming at me guns blazing.

Two of them died before the merge. Plasma cannons are a bitch when you're driving a Bloodhound and you're not smart enough to jink in a head-to-head. I blew the tailplane clean off another before they decided to get small and go fast. I don't carry a cruise disruptor; I'm fine with letting people go. Made sure these guys didn't think I was merciful, though, by dropping one's shields while he tried to jump to cruise.

Then I found the trade lane to California Minor was disrupted halfway there and another five Rogues waiting for me. Once is fine; you're trying to avenge your buddies. Twice is stupidity in action. I splashed four; the last one got away. Not for lack of trying to kill him; I could see black through his midships from where my last shots burned clean through him before he finally hit cruise velocity.

* * *

The space over California Minor was clear, at least, and Juni was in touch from the ground. She's tight with Space Traffic Control I guess. Ashcroft talked, and they've cracked pretty much the entire artifact smuggling trade at once. They're bringing them all in, to Willard Research Station in the Tahoe Ice Cloud.

I mentioned the Rogues thing, and she got very quiet. "Look, Zane, if you think I'm going to compromise the mission...these guys obviously want me dead in the worst way and they've got some way of knowing where I'm going."

"We're in trouble anyways. All the stuff we're moving? They'll come after us. Them, the Outcasts, who knows who else." Juni shook her head. "No, I'd rather have you flying with me."

"There's something else...but I think it can wait, at least for now." She's LSF, and might not be happy if I reveal Navy secrets. But if I've learned anything the last couple of weeks, if you fly combat with someone you treat them different after. "Where we going for this?"

"We'll-"

I cut her off. She looks mighty pissed. "Hold up. That news report...that's Lonnigan."

"The leader of the terrorist group The Order, Orillion, alias Sam Lonnigan."

"How do you know him?" Full LSF investigatory mode on Juni. I hate to say it, but it's kind of hot.

"He was on Freeport Seven with me. I was making a delivery to him; ore shipment, niobium, worth a million credits. He wasn't _smart_ enough to be a terrorist mastermind, Zane." An impression, but it seemed valid. He was a middle-man, for something or somebody who needed niobium for ship parts and couldn't get it the normal way. And he was chosen because he wasn't overly bright so he wouldn't ask questions and wouldn't know enough to hurt if he was interrogated. "And he was on the station during the attack. He nearly died. Does that sound like the man who runs a terrorist group that was able to shut down Manhattan orbital defenses on a whim to you?"

Juni shook her head. "No...but he might have been playing you, Trent."

"I was with him on the transport. You don't fake things like cyanosis or your heart rate and going into cardiac arrest twice while you're hooked up to monitoring gear. He barely made it through the trip, Zane." Lonnigan might have been playing my impressions, but he sure wasn't playing his injuries.

"Well, whoever he was, he's dead now." Juni dismisses it with ease. Okay, that's uncomfortable for me. "Trent...I asked you in on this one not just because King says you're a hell of a pilot. Ashcroft said there's someone on the inside of the government and it's plausible. They might even be Navy. If the convoy's hit, we'll have a very small suspect pool...but I couldn't risk bringing in someone from the inside. I needed an outsider, someone who definitely wouldn't be the leak. That's you."

"We're bait." I observe, with what I think is commendable calm. "What's our plan if the fish is too big for us, Zane?"

"That won't happen. Trust me, Trent." You're asking an awful lot, Juni. You're Secret Agent Lady, after all. "I've got a plan."

Okay. She's got a plan. And her plans...have generally been good ones so far. She may be secret agent lady, but she's been an effective operator...and her head's in the noose right next to mine. Juni's not suicidal. If she has a plan now, she thinks it'll work. "All right."


	7. Californication

We're headed to Border Station San Diego to meet a convoy; from there we'll skim along the edge of the Tahoe Ice Cloud to a passage that leads to Willard Research Station, where the Liberty Navy does all the cool research we peons aren't allowed to know about.

This is not how I'd do it, personally. Willard lies fairly close to the trade lane between California Minor and the Magellan Jump Gate/San Diego. With that in mind I'd take the trade lane and do a mid-lane-jump abort, then fly the much shorter distance. You have to fly the same distance roughly but you're exposed for much less time. Relatively few people actually think of doing a mid-lane abort too. I suggested this to Juni, and she agreed with the concept in theory, but said the transports just weren't maneuverable enough to go through the Cloud at speed unless following a path that had been cleared of large obstructions already.

Oh well. Juni says that, fortunately, they didn't have to bring the transports far, since the main hub of artifact smuggling was in Magellan and so it was only one jump. She didn't have to tell me that; she's trying to earn my trust. I wonder what it's like for her. She's not much older than I am, but she's pretty high-ranked for her job, and manifestly pretty good at being Secret Agent Lady. I wonder if she can turn off certain aspects of her job, like trying to earn people's trust so she can drill them for information.

I suspect even when this is all over, when I'm hundreds of light years and tens of years away from having ever met her, I'll never know if I saw the "real" Jun'ko Zane.

* * *

Damn fool convoy left without us. They're lucky nobody jumped them while they were hanging around with their hands in their pants at the first waypoint into the Barrera Passage. Border Station San Diego was looking on high alert; I saw three wings of LPI Patriots buzzing around and readings off the station said they had more powered up inside the bays. Hopefully that's part of Juni's plan and not a sign something bad is going down elsewhere in the system.

We linked up. Juni's got this habit of throwing in a jink right as she enters cruise that seriously creeps me out. I keep thinking she's spotted an inbound cruise disruptor and I start looking around in a panic. Can't fight the spike if you don't see the spike.

We're into the ice cloud, following the buoys. Two down. There's a clearing an an abandoned depot up ahead; Juni thinks that's where we'll get hit, if we get hit at all. And I'm picking up...I hate it when this happens.

Outcasts, multiple vectors, I count six Daggers inbound. The lead transport just hit a mine.

Damn! Their tachyon beams just cut through my shields like lasers through butter. I bought the wrong kind of protection for this fight. I took down one in a head-to-head but I'm spending batteries like it's going out of style. Gotta keep them off the transports; there's twenty crew on each.

I almost had one, high deflection shot, he's down a wing, but-damn damn damn! Juni needs help! Hopefully the transport's guns can finish him off. Swing around. Juni's putting on a pretty good show; she's chasing one, being chased by another, and firing in both directions with her fighter's forward guns and its turret. I pop the guy behind her with three volleys; one to drop his shields, one to wake him up, and one as he tries to jink and evade. Then it's back to chasing down the ones going for the transports. They know I'm the real danger now; if I take a shot at a guy, they break off what they're doing and come for me.

Juni called in reinforcements. She must have had them waiting close by because LPI Gamma was in the fight in seconds. I popped one more who was getting a little too eager to hit the transports and damaged some of the others to make them flinch off an attack run, but the LPI got the kills. We're moving again, LPI's on the flanks, Juni and I on close cover. Fifteen more klicks.

Willard's in sight. Never been so happy to see a Liberty Dreadnaught on station as I was to see the _LNS Harmony_. Juni said to land, we'll meet back in space in a few minutes. I told her to wait just a little longer than that.

* * *

"Things are pretty weird right now, Trent, this better be good." Juni's not looking happy.

"I watched the Liberty Navy kill another Freeport Seven survivor when I jumped into California to meet you. They told me not to talk about it, but...they were trying to arrest him, they said, but they weren't. Not when they salvo'd a dozen Cannonball-class missiles at a Rhino as their first option. That's a kill order." I paused a bit. "He was...he said other survivors were disappearing and he needed to talk me. After Lonnigan, now this?"

"It's worse than you realize." Juni said. "Meet me in space. We need some privacy. A secure channel."

* * *

"Something is terribly wrong, Trent. When I tried to get in touch with my CO, to brief him on this operation, he'd been ordered to Manhattan. Some of my sources say he's under arrest, for treason. All my friends at LSF headquarters have been reassigned or aren't talking to me."

Oh shit. Juni... "Tell me you didn't do something, Zane."

"No! Trent, seriously, why would you even think that?" Well, that got her good and mad. Hard to fake the pupil dilation too when it hit her. I'm not a secret agent, but I did make a lot of deals as a freelance cargo hauler.

"It seems likes it's aimed at you. Why else would they?" I ask. "If you haven't done something, what now?"

"I've still got other friends. There's a cruiser captain in this system, name of Walker. He's got connections who can help us sort this out. Wait one-ships on an intercept course."

"Those are Valkyries..." Rheinland military heavy fighters squawking Rheinland military IDs. Three of them.

"Rheinland ships, this is LSF Commander Jun'ko Zane. State your intentions." They're in our way, and when I fire maneuvering thrusters to slip around, one blocks me. "Rheinland ships respond."

They don't. Except on the open channel, between each other, where my comm picks it up. "Bogie in sight. Dropping the hammer."

Off to the races then. Not a moment too soon as they spray tachyon and pulse fire through the space I was occupying a moment to go. Two on me, one on Juni. Well, he's going first.

But he's not going easy. Damn, these guys are good. The Valkyrie's lost none of its charm since I first saw one in action two years ago either. I can't stay on them, they're just too maneuverable. It's snapshots or nothing. Fortunately with my plasma cannon I've got enough one-shot damage to fry a lot of shield or armor off one of these things when I tag them. Juni's smart, we set up a continuous scissors for defense and get shots where we can. It stills takes us several minutes to get all three of them.

Three of them. Three Rheinland Valkyries. Hardest fight I've ever seen. They didn't even _try_ to break it off. The last guy, he actually tried to ram me as he was dying. What the hell?

Juni, of course, has a different what-the-hell. This is an act of war. And she's got another what-the-hell beyond that: Rheinland Valkyries sent to kill an LSF commander and a freelancer, in Liberty, while the LSF command structure is apparently in chaos. That's too much to be coincidence and too disconnected from everything else to be _anything_ but coincidence. Real-life paradox. We're pressing on to reach Walker, who's waiting on California Minor.


	8. The Edge of the Abyss

Walker seems like a decent sort. He actually asked me if I'd like to join up with the Liberty Navy. I turned that down, politely. There's lots of things that I like about the Liberty Navy, honestly, but there's lots of things I don't like about Liberty itself. And there's the little kill order incident. Didn't mention anything about that stuff, mind. Walker's a nice guy, but he's also a patriot. You can tell when he talks about people who he sees as enemies of his nation and his people; disgust, and cold determination.

I also noticed he calls Juni "Jun'ko" in conversation and she doesn't get pissed at him. I call her "Zane" because I don't want to sound too close mostly, and I know that other people who call her Jun'ko get in deep trouble with her. Not Walker. He's technically old enough to be her dad, and he's says he's known her for years. Juni just says she's worked with him and knows she can trust him. Friend of the family? Related? Juni's definitely of Kusari descent but her family ended up in Liberty _somehow_...

This secret agent stuff is contagious. I need to get back into space and meet up with them before I start coming up with real conspiracy theories.

* * *

"Juni, this is King."

"King?" Juni seems surprised. I keep my mouth shut.

"After you called I asked around. I was able to confirm your CO is in prison. There's been a major shakeup in the leadership of the LSF." King seems...subdued. It's unnatural, from him.

"That's just the tip of the iceburg. We were attacked by Rheinland Valkyries."

"Rheinlanders? What?" There's the old King.

"Don't know. I'll be in touch after our rendezvous."

"Juni, Walker, switching to a private channel. My cruiser group was given orders to report to spacedock for inspection." Walker sounds...suspicious.

"What? Did they give a reason why?" Oh Juni. We're for it now. Somebody's cutting us off...keep looking up Trent. If you spot the hammer coming down, you might be able to dodge it...

"They said there were inconsistencies in our maintenance records. Don't know why, we refitted the group only two months ago. We're supposed to depart in a half hour-"

"This is Research Station Willard! We're under attack!" Oh boy. Never a dull moment here.

Walker switched to an open channel. "To hell with spacedock. All ships, go to battle stations and set course. Willard, this is Liberty Cruiser Attack Group South, Captain Walker speaking. What's your status?"

"We're under attack by Rheinland vessels, several gunboats and fighter wings. Several torpedoes have hit the _Harmony_ and she's on the ropes. The station is on fire, automated defense are failing, and our fighter group is getting shot down like flies!" Jesus! Willard has a regular Navy squadron. _Harmony_ must have several fighter wings as well.

"Hang in there Willard. We're a couple of minutes out, hold them off."

"Willard, we're a minute out."

"Two more torpedoes have hit the station. We have plasma leaks in multiple sections. Hurry!"

"My god..." Yeah, that about sums it up.

The _Harmony_'s hurt, but not bad. She's trying to close the station to help defend it, but a team of three Rhineland gunboats is tearing at her, and whenever _Harmony_ gets too close they launch a torpedo volley that forces her back. I count a dozen Valkyries in the air, maybe more. Willard's still firing but only a couple of the turrets seem to still work. Two Navy Defenders are huddled up close to the _Harmony_, using the bigger ship's guns to protect them from the swarm of Rhineland fighters.

I am staring into the face of madness.

There has been only one inter-House war. Partway through the 80 Years War between Rhineland and the Gas Miners Guild, Rhineland tried to hit GMG targets in Kusari space. The Kusari, naturally, objected by force of arms and inter-house war broke out briefly. Briefly because every trade lane and jump gate in the Colonies runs on proprietary Ageira technology. Liberty and Bretonia were both in an economic slump and Kusari and Rhineland thought there was nothing they could do military-wise. They were wrong: Liberty nationalized Ageira Technologies and _shut down_ every jump gate in both nations. They rapidly concluded a peace treaty before their citizens started starving.

The Boorman Treaty, which ended the 80 Years War long before I was born, formally outlawed armed conflict between the Houses. The lesson here was pretty simple: not only is this illegal to have inter-House conflicts, we have the means to enforce its illegality. Don't start a war unless you're certain Liberty will support you, and _definitely_ don't start a war with Liberty.

Rhineland is starting a war with Liberty, right here and right now. The face of madness, like I said.

"Cruisers, screen the _Harmony_. Fighters, intercept torpedoes and take out those gunboats." One thing I'll say for Walker: the man has it together when the chips are down. He took one look at a situation so absurd as to be impossible and then started issuing orders like he'd been planning for this his whole life. Juni's on a gunboat, and I'm on whatever comes after her; two fighters later the Rhinelanders seem to realize I'm the dangerous one and come after me instead, so we switch places and I take out the gunboat while Juni kills the fighters. With one gunboat down, a wing of Rhineland torpedo bombers enters the field and Walker pulls me and Juni off the gunboats to stop them. They think they'll just get by us at cruise and go for Walker's cruisers. They're wrong. I killed one before the merge and cruise disruptor'd another, leaving him hanging there looking stupid before his cockpit was cracked by Juni's guns. The cruisers are mauling everything on the field, Rhinelander gunboats are just no match for them.

Walker's second cruiser, the _Ohio_, takes a hit from a Rhineland torpedo, but bulls through it; the gunboat makes the mistake of crossing in front of the _Ohio_ and gets a taste of a Liberty Cruiser's main gun. The ship's entire bow is built around this gun, for the record. A second later, there is no Rhineland gunboat. _Harmony_'s flak and the cruisers' flak is combined, creating a bubble inside which any Rhineland fighter is soon dead, and Juni and I plus the Navy guys are getting the upper hand around Willard.

It takes another thirty seconds and four kills before I run out of targets. These pilots weren't as good as the ones that ambushed me and Juni, or we'd all be dead, but they weren't bad either.

"Trent, you okay?" Juni asks.

My hands are shaking. I have to take a few breaths so I'll sound normal when I reply. "Yeah. You okay Juni?"

"Just barely. That got pretty rough. I'm transferring your payment now; you definitely went above and beyond. I'd be writing a medal commendation if you were LSF. Walker and I are going to sort this out; his cruisers will be staying here for awhile so their damage control teams can help Willard and the _Harmony_." She paused. "You're on your own, for a bit. But keep in touch, all right? I'll give you secure comm details if you'll land a moment."

"Sure thing." There's a drink and a rack on Pueblo Station I want pretty bad right now, but they can wait a moment.


	9. Waiting for the Hammer

The bloody Rogues! I was ambushed twice just trying to get out of California, once on the trade lane from California Minor to Mojave, and a second time above Mojave. I took three down hard during the trade lane thing and two more over Mojave; a Universal Shipping convoy shot down the other two. There were _another_ two at California to New York jump gate but also so many convoy ships around they decided to run away rather than fight all the convoy escorts.

All the stupid things on the news about LPI tripling its presence in California while the _LNS Yukon_ was in drydock may be true, but they sure aren't doing it around the places the _Yukon_'s fighter wings would have patrolled.

The trip across New York is quiet enough at least. But there were two more of the bastards on the trade lane to Pueblo inside Colorado. These two didn't seem to expect to catch a Defender, and promptly ran.

* * *

Pueblo was a sight for sore eyes. I'd been on the move all day, and it gets pretty sore when you're pumping adrenaline a lot but not moving. I docked up; they still remember me here, so I got a discount on the bunk. Called Juni before I turned in for the night. She was happy to hear from me; in fact, I think I may have been the only friendly face she saw all day. She seems worried and told me to stay close to my comm.

* * *

Got eight hours before I scrambled to defend Pueblo from a Lane Hackers attack. Four ships. They were _not_ ready for the first thing that scrambled to be a Defender with top of the line weaponry. Splashed one with my first shots, he'd already gotten a bit messed up by the station guns and he snapped in half just behind the cockpit. The others ran for it while the Ageira Startrackers got into space. Not my favorite way to wake up. I'm gonna head on up to the _Rio Grande_ and get the Defender looked at; she felt a little sluggish.

* * *

Well, I know what was wrong now. I had an unexploded Javelin missile in my thruster vector plates! Navy tech who saw it damn near had a heart attack before he called EOD. Once EOD got it out they took it apart and then the techs went to work checking out the Defender for damage.

The EOD guys offered me the missile's fuze as a souvenir; said it's a complete dud, totally safe. I'm not sure why I took him up on it, but I did. I'll have to tell Juni about this one. Going to hit the bar and talk to the flight group.

Me and my thing for women in uniform. I got talked into taking a job to fly support for a Liberty Navy wing going after some Lane Hackers, but this brunette with shoulder-length hair tucked back behind her ears. Lieutenant Cynthia Henderson. She'll be flying lead.

We launch in thirty minutes.

* * *

Well, that was a clusterfuck. There were three of us to start, but it didn't last that way. We got into the mission area, sure enough, half-dozen Lane Hackers. I go head-to-head with a pair and down one, but the Navy guy, Packard, he gets clobbered and punches out. I manage to tractor him before any of the Hackers kill him, while Cynthia puts another Hacker down hard. I manage to crack one's cockpit with a high-deflection shot; didn't kill him, somehow, but he's going home before his flight suit gives out. Lucky son of a bitch.

I got on another one and pounded him to scrap with four or five volleys, and Cynthia got another, but then she got clobbered with a missile and also had to punch out. I just barely managed to tractor her; one of damn Hackers launched a missile at her lifepod. Last Hacker decided to get small and go fast after I blew his left wing off, but he didn't make it to cruise before I put another set of shots in him and he blew up.

In the end, I was the only one to return to the _Rio Grande_ under their own power. Packard got lucky, but Cynthia's in the ship's sickbay for a nasty bump on her head from the ejection. She did ask me to look her up once she's fit to fly again. I'm headed back to Pueblo to check in with Juni and rack out.

* * *

Juni didn't answer. I left her a message to call if she's alive.

Shit. Is the hammer coming down now? I don't know. I'm tired, but I can't stay on Pueblo. Too many people know me here. I've gotta go somewhere else.

The Rogues may be thick as fleas in California, but California Minor's under the control of Planetform; they're a Bretonnia company. Friendly accents to me. I'll go there, make myself useful, make a few friends. I'm not cutting and running out of Liberty quite yet...stupid of me, maybe, but Juni said she would need my help. If she doesn't answer soon I'll have to rethink.

Moving out now. New York jumpgate is next.

* * *

Made the jump. God, I hope I'm not flying as paranoid as I feel. Bypassing Manhattan itself means flying past West Point, Norfolk Shipyard and the _Missouri_, and Fort Bush. If somebody really is dropping the hammer on me, I've given them plenty of places to do it...

Oh shit! Xenos, at least eight of them coming out of the Badlands. Gotta get out of here!

Damn, that was close. I hit cruise and then my shields popped, so I threw in some jinks and got away. Didn't even try for the first trade lane ring while under fire, just hauled ass for the second and jumped into the lane there. They ought to put the _LNS Unity_ back on gate guard duty here; the damn Colorado gate's the most dangerous place in New York and there's never a patrol up.

* * *

Into California now, headed to Mojave. Traditionally, and I can't believe I have to say that, there are Rogues over Mojave. We'll see.

...they were one trade lane ring out from it. Just to keep things interesting, I suppose. Three Rogues. They bit off more than they could chew, though I only splashed one; a big Universal Shipping convoy with four transports and eight escorts appeared from the opposite direction I did and swarmed at them as they tried to run from me. It was over really quick. On to California Minor.

Son of a bitch, they must have been scouts. There were eight more Rogues waiting for me. I splashed two but the other six were tearing me to shreds. Fortunately they're still not smart enough to pack cruise disruptors and they couldn't stop me getting away. I made it to California Minor safe. I'm going to rack out in my ship and then look for a mission or something.


	10. Hammer Fall

Juni called a couple of hours after I got to sleep. She said she'd be out of touch for two days, but if she didn't call me by 1700 on Thursday then I should get as far away from Liberty as I can. She sounds scared, and I...I'm not crazy enough to try and reassure her. She's the one in this relationship who does the reassuring right now. Maybe if we were in Bretonia, that'd be different.

Did tell if she needs me I'll come running. That...actually did improve her mood, which is probably a bad sign. I went back to sleep for a couple more hours and then picked up a short-term escort contract from Planetform, Cali Minor to Los Angeles and back. Splashed two Rogues over Los Angeles clearing the way for the transports to land; the other two escort flight guys never even got into the fight in their Startrackers. Got hit by a pair of Lane Hacker Daggers on the way back. They did not expect a Defender as part of the escort; I blew off one guy's right wing and he decided to bug out. The other guy...well, he decided the correct answer to my not cruise-disruptoring and killing his buddy was to put a missile through one of the Planetform Startrackers' cockpit. The Lane Hacker lived about fifteen seconds after that.

I've flown a few more escorts since, but we haven't been bothered much. One of the execs on the project just turned up looking for me, though...

* * *

Apparently a Lane Hacker stole some critical project data. They want me to go get it back, because they think I'll survive the attempt and their own pilots wouldn't.

Made intercept over Mojave. There were half-a-dozen Rogues and a police wing (that's a bloody first!) tangling when I arrived, spotted my target when he arrived about fifteen seconds later. Near-run thing. He tried to jump to cruise but didn't make it, and didn't survive the head-to-head. I tractored the stuff and rolled in to help the police wing, though they had things pretty well in hand.

Planetform's handed out a few strike ops, basically, against Rogue ship groups. At this point I think it's fair to say that that the problems between me and the Liberty Rogues have reached the scale of vendetta, so I took them. I've probably added twenty kills to the record running these missions, and the escorts I'm on are noticeably more quiet than they should be according to the transport drivers.

Juni ought to be calling real soon.

* * *

Juni was early by six hours. She's definitely scared. She said to meet her on Manhattan and not delay. Outbound from California Minor. Rogues better not be over Mojave again; I don't have time for them.

They weren't. A miracle that is.

* * *

Something's up. There's a lot of Navy activity over the gate, and I'm being followed. Bounty Hunter ship, and I think I know who. Saw her around the bar a few times on California Minor. I'd say she looked like an ex-Outcast, with her tats, but there's no such thing as an "ex" Outcast. They need Cardamine like they need air; the drug's altered their biochemistry so much that if they go into withdrawal they'll die.

Lot of Navy activity over Manhattan too...don't normally see that, police wings, trade groups, yes, Navy...no. This is the heavy end of the hammer, right here. I can feel it. It's hovering. I'm going to willingly stick my head under it.

I'm a fool.

* * *

Juni was waiting _at my landing pad_. Secret Agent Lady indeed. In fact, her ship was there as well...lucky guess? No. Not with her. She arranged this. She's also wearing a gunbelt and holster. That's new.

"Juni, what's going on?" Her LSF jumpsuit doesn't look like it's been cleaned in awhile. The big bulky vest, which I've always suspected is actually body armor dressed up nice, isn't as dirty. What the hell does that mean?

"Over here." She moves us to a place between her ship and a pile of crates, out of easy view from anywhere. Definitely worried. Moving fast too.

"What's wrong?" I pat my side; the Detroit Arms gun is still there. If I have to go through customs I can't take it, but I haven't yet.

"Nothing. Something." A pause, frustration and something else. "I don't know yet!" Ouch. Snappish.

"You needed me for something." Keep her focused. She's on the edge, and looking close she's got makeup under her eyes; first I've seen her wear, aside from lipstick. Juni's not been sleeping and is trying to hide it.

"Ashcroft's missing! He was on a Liberty dreadnaught in a maximum-security cell surrounded by armed guards. Trent, you don't escape from that! After our last assignment and the Rheinlander fracas I had more questions for him about his Rheinland connections. When I got there, he was _gone_."

"Not transferred by your higher-ups? Things have been weird, Juni." I remind her gently.

"Every record of his arrest, how it happened, it's all gone. The entire attack on Pueblo, nothing. The wing of four LSF pilots who died at Pueblo before you got there never existed! And it's worse, Walker's gone."

That got my attention. My stint with Planetform clued me in to a lot of things about that area of space. Walker's actually a big deal; he's turned down a battleship command twice to stay with his cruiser group. He's lead multiple successful operations in the Border Worlds, including one op where he went sixteen-for-zero against a Corsair attack group. That takes real skill; it also takes big brass balls. "That's impossible. Naval captains don't vanish. Especially not ones like Walker."

"Neither do their ships! The _Utah_ is listed as having been lost, Trent. Not recently; five years ago. People around us are disappearing."

Son of a-There's the hammer, and it is _definitely_ coming down. "We're here. What's our play?"

"Find Walker. He never left California, so that's where we start." I'd prefer if the answer was to get out of Liberty, but it looks like no. Still...I know where at least one Jump Hole out of California is. If the worst happens, I know where we run to. "Watch the ships. I've got to take care of a little business; shouldn't be more than five minutes."

"Watch your ass, Juni." I warn.

* * *

Dude's wearing an IMG overcoat, and he's saying my name. "Mister Trent! It's very important that you and I speak."

Yeah. Sure it is. That accent; he's Bretonian, no big surprise from an Independent Miner's Guild guy. I take a couple of steps forward and undo the holster flap on my gun. "Why would that be?"

He backs underneath Juni's Defender. "Because we're the last two." Also makes a come-here gesture. I don't take the suggestion; catch me going somewhere not easily seen with strangers? Now? Yeah right.

"Last two what?" I know this guy from somewhere. Back in Bretonia? I never hit the big IMG bases in the Omega systems or the _Hood_. But there are always some of them around Leeds and Cambridge.

"Freeport Seven survivors, Mister Trent. We're the last ones in Liberty. Everyone else is either dead, or missing."

Ah...yeah, rescue ship. He was watching me and Rowlett play cards. "So talk."

"I'm a thief, Mister Trent. They were looking for something. I came to Freeport 7 to deliver something; an object wanted very badly by a person." Well, at least...wait. If it was worth blasting a Freeport, then whatever this guy stole is worth a whole lot. Maybe not fate-of-nations lot, but still. You don't kill six thousand people for the hell of it. "Apparently they weren't alone... It's about this." Artifact. Egg-shaped, purple, brass setting around the middle.

"I'm working with the LSF. This isn't very smart, telling me." Hand close to the holster. You don't draw; the holster rotates. It's not supposed to be accurate; it's supposed to make the guy stop while you get the gun out. Outcast trick supposedly.

"You're a Freeport Seven survivor. You have a ship. To who else should I turn. We need to get as far away from here as possible-" His eyes go wide. He turns and starts moving and I start moving after him when-

Son of a bitch, that's a gunshot. I can't see, I don't have a hope in hell of turning and outdrawing the guy behind me when he's already got it pointed at my back. Hands in the air. "I can explain."

"I have my orders." Glance over the shoulder...Liberty Navy. Alone? I think he's alone. "Eyes front!"

"Freeze soldier! This man is a freelancer working on assignment with the Liberty Security Force." Oh thank god, it's Juni.

"I found him dealing in illegal artifacts!" Can't see. Don't dare turn my head again, this guy's hopped up on something good. Maybe it's his own adrenal response but seriously, he's as twitchy as I've ever seen somebody get.

"Then arrest him." Oh _thanks_ Juni.

"I'm afraid I can't do that."

"Soldier, you are bound by Liberty Code to uphold the law. If he's a suspect, take him into custody. The law ensures his safety and a fair trial." Oh! Thanks Juni.

"Not anymor-" A shot. I'm not dead; I spin around, drawing, down on one knee. Juni's still up. The guy's going down at my feet.

"He was going to kill me!" Juni doesn't comprehend. "He was going to kill us. Who was that guy?" She gestures to the thief. I don't know his name. Somehow it seems important I should know his name, but I don't.

Irrational thoughts there me. Oh, that hammer, it's getting real close... "Juni, I don't know, but he's dead. We're going to be dead too if we stay. We have to get out of Liberty."

"What about Walker?" She's protesting. I'm not surprised. Juni's a patriot too; she believes in her nation, as she probably has to so she can do her job. The fact it's turned on her hasn't set in.

That's gonna be a mess when it happens. "We're no good to him dead, and that goon wasn't alone I bet. We need to grab some time and some distance, stick together to sort this out."

"Okay." She's not sure about this but it's hard to avoid the logic. "I know a place." Now we hope the Navy isn't about to drop on our heads as we launch...


	11. Hammer Impact

"What's the plan?" Juni said she had had a plan.

"First to Fort Bush, and then to the Badlands-"

"This is the Liberty Navy! Cut your engines!"

Oh god. We're dead.

The _LNS Unity_ is in front of the trade lane to West Point and is launching fighters. A cruiser, _LNS Twilight_, is in front of Fort Bush trade lane and her fighter escort of at least six Defenders is headed this way. We're dead. That's it. It's over.

Bugger this for a lark. I suddenly get very stubborn, and that Navy guy right there pays for it with four volleys in a head-to-head. Loop out, split-s. Blap the one after Juni. My shields are holding, just barely, but I'm burning thruster power like it's going out of style. I'll run out and die quick.

_Make me,_ you sons of whores. "There's too many, I don't see how we get out of this!" Juni's not shooting much. I guess she's given up, but she's still flying defensive at least. Oh, that one's not got his head in the game right, he's focused on the not-a-threat; now he's dead. More of them launching from Manhattan. Only twenty fighters? Oh, you'll all regret that like your three, no, four dead friends did briefly. These guys don't fly half as well as the wings off the _Rio Grande_; if you all were fighting Outcasts or Corsairs you'd be dead already.

What, did the Liberty Navy send only rookies after me? I'm insult-there goes the thruster. I'm out. _Unity_'s in range. This will be over-

"Juni, this is King. Head for West Point. We'll take care of the battleship."

The LNS _Utah_. King, in a Defender rather than his usual patriot. A dozen Defenders squawking IDs of Cruiser Attack Group South. The _Utah_ and Walker demonstrate why it is a bad idea to piss off your most brilliant naval commander when he has access to the largest gun in the Colonies.

"_Unity_ here, we are taking-" An explosion. "General order, all hands abandon ship, all hands-" The _Unity_ is breaking up. That's...three thousand people. They were at battle stations. Some of them will have been suited up and survived, but...most of them are dead now.

"Juni, Trent, head for West Point. King, you go with them." Walker's still got that command voice; he is In Control and Knows What He Is Doing. The _LNS Twilight_ is coming up, and fires at the _Utah_. It misses somehow.

"What about you?" Juni asks.

"I'll be fine. Go!" No arguing with that man. We hit the trade lane.

Westpoint has two wings of fighters in the air, but they're small. We can probably take them, but the station is another matter, it's spewing fire everywhere. It may be an academy, but it's still a military installation. Gotta run. Trade lane again. King breaks off to meet up with Walker near Detroit.

"Trent, I'm sending you coordinates. You're going to meet an old friend of mine." Okay Juni, I hope he's trustworthy.

* * *

"Approaching ships, this is a restricted area. Turn around at once." Oh great, Juni's plan-

"Doctor van Pelt? It's Jun'ko, Jun'ko Zane."

"Juni?" Okay maybe it's not bad. "I've heard the news about you on the secure channel. What is going on?"

"I can't explain like this; we need a place to hide." True enough. Badlands are full of EM disturbance and particulate and asteroids, but I don't want to be out here.

"You are cleared to land. I'll meet you on the deck."

* * *

"Juni, the secure channel is buzzing with reports about you." An older man; much older. He has the tell-tale marks of anti-aging treatments; this guy could be anything from 70 to 200.

"Professor, this is my friend, Trent." Juni waves to me.

"van Pelt's the name, young man. Juni, you must explain this. They're saying you're an armed and dangerous fugitive!" Not one to be deterred.

"I don't know-" Okay, Trent, time for the big reveal.

"I think it's related," I fish the artifact out of my coat, "to this."

Van Pelt sets up some gear and analyzes away happily for a bit. "Artifact, very old, but still active. Hmm. You might try Quintaine."

"What?" Juni's losing it. That's a name, not a place...

"Not what dear, who. Quintaine is a respected xenoarcheologist in Cambridge. He could help you identify it." Dear? Once again, I'm forced to wonder about Juni's possibly familial relationship with an older man.

"I don't want to identify it, I want to get rid of it!" Crap. Not meltdown but we're getting real close now.

"We can't do that, Juni." Calm, keep it calm. "Not now. If we keep it, at least we've got a bargaining chip."

"I'm afraid your young man," I really do not know how I feel about that description, "is right dear. You will both be safer in Bretonia. Now, how to get you there."

"**Liberty patrol approaching.**"

"They must have followed you somehow. I'm setting the automated defenses to cover your retreat. They _never_ come out this far."

"What about you?" Juni's worried about him. Hell, _I'm_ worried about him and I've only known the guy for forty minutes.

"I'm an old man facing two violent criminals. I'll be fine. You _must_ go. There's a jumpgate to Magellan, here. It hasn't been used since the disaster that destroyed Ithaca, but it still works." Ithaca Station. I remember reading something about that, that was before the 80 Years War-

Holy shit. van Pelt has to be close to 200 years old...

* * *

"Renegade ships-"

Tell it to someone who cares, nancy boy. Juni's urging Van Pelt to come with us; Van Pelt's telling us to go; I'm blasting Defenders, but these guys are a better class of pilot. And they're armed like the wings off the _Rio Grande_, plasma weapons...bloody hell those hurt. My shields went down twice in as many seconds and I've only got them up now because I spent all my batteries.

Three cruisers-they're firing on Benford Station! Oh god-Juni, hold it together. Hold it together. Come on, don't crack now. She's not moving. Neither are the Liberty ships...

"Commander Zane, cut your engines and surrender."

"They'll pay for this. Trent, cruise engines. Let's go." Thank _god._

Gate ahead. They didn't chase us...jump gate is active. It still works. We might survive this.

* * *

We made it. Freeport Four here we come...

Me and my mouth. Ten Bounty Hunter lights, Piranhas. There's a million-credit bounty on each of us, dead. We roll in, but we're losing this one. I got two kills, but chasing one...shields down...he dropped a mine.

My right wing's gone. I don't know how I can be so calm. Nanobots are patching the hull together but I'm going to run out.

"Bounty Hunters, cease fire. These ships are under the protection of the Lane Hackers!"

_Say what?_


	12. Escape to Bretonia

We just got saved by a squad of Lane Hacker Daggers. In their words, "The enemies of Liberty are our friends." We're headed to their base, Mactan, which I've heard of, but never seen. Few people have I suspect.

My Defender is sick. I'm down to two packs of nanobots. My right wing and the Magma Hammer plasma cannon mounted there are gone. The main drive is making these hiccupping noises that scare the hell out of me. Unhappy plasma is bad plasma. My Warning Board is lit up like an electronics store at Christmas. I'm probably lucky the fighter hasn't just blown the hell up on me. The head Lane Hacker wants to talk to Juni; I'm going to see if this thing can be fixed in a reasonable timeframe and send a message to my uncle Tobias to expect us.

* * *

They gave me a new Defender they were using for false-flag stuff, and I gave them five thousand creds to cover repairing mine. Considering the ship new costs about twice that, and repairs are cheap with nanofabricated parts, they're getting a pretty sweet deal. I need to get a new ship with a new ID squawk, though, or I'm going to have Bounty Hunters on me thick as fleas. They couldn't arrange that.

Something...just hit the station. Sounded like a torpedo. Hot launch time. Four Rhineland Valkyries. Mactan is still manning fighters and turrets. I jump one that some of the active turrets are shooting at and pop him with a cockpit shot, then slot in behind another who's setting up for a torpedo run and blow him apart with two volleys. Lane Hacker fighters start to launch as I get on the third and pound him. He evades the second volley, but not the other two after it. These guys aren't very good. The Lane Hackers are all over the last guy with turrets and fighters, but I still manage to get the killshot somehow.

Juni wants to split up, with me setting up a safehouse in Leeds for us and her heading to Cambridge to find Professor Quintaine. I'm not for that, because...well because I think Juni's handling now, but she's about to come apart. So...

"Jun'ko." Oh, that intake of breath. She's about to snarl at me. "Look, I haven't got a better way to indicate I want to have a realtalk moment with you, okay? You can't cope forever by keeping busy. When this all catches up...promise me you'll call. I'll call you. Okay?"

"Trent, if you think I'm some crybaby-"

"Your whole nation, to which you dedicated your life, just turned on you." Saying it may not be smart; maybe she hasn't processed it and I'm forcing her to. But I don't know what else to do. "And we don't even know why. Don't bullshit with me, Juni. I'm on the edge and I didn't have nearly as much to lose. Promise you'll call me."

She sighs. Juni doesn't believe me it's going to happen. "I'll call you."

Leeds. Smog clouds. In space. Yeah, it's that bad. Bretonnia was founded last of the major houses. Some things were necessary to catch up. Some, especially now, happened because Bretonia Mining and Metals doesn't always manage to give a damn. Still, BMM isn't the monster it used to be in most ways. The Founders' Day Revolt made sure of that. If you're a spacer or employed on space work, they manage to treat you like a real person. The ground based operations...it's being worked on.

Tobias was waiting. He had some sharp words; I pointed out I had more than 100k creds to my name, a ship, and a combat record. He gave me a load of fertilizers for the money and the ship, considering the million-credit deal I left on. I pointed out it's not my fault Freeport 7 blew up. Naturally the Liberty most wanted thing came up...but he was softening out. Tobias raised me, after the shuttle accident to my parents. He's a good man, in the end, worried about me. And I'm glad. Plus, he was Bretonia Armed Forces. He knows being blooded means something.

He told me to get a new ship, and tried to give me some cash, but I told him that wasn't necessary. I can pay for it. Outbound to New London to see what's on offer. If I want a heavy fighter again I'll have to get a Crusader...the damn thing looks awful, but I guess I don't have a choice unless I grab a Clydesdale and fly cargo.

I guess I'll suffer the looks. The closest source is...

Shit. The closest source is probably the _Essex_ in Dublin. I'm not going in there.

* * *

Bretonia. Home. I didn't leave to get away, but somehow being home isn't filling me with nostalgia. I was born on Leeds; I've lived there or Cambridge.

Bretonia, like Liberty, has its problems. Ironically, in some ways it's better off, a fact that can be put down entirely to its style of government. Bretonia is a constitutional monarchy, in theory. In practice, power resides in the civil service and the office of the monarchy. It's not that Parliament does not have fangs; it's that the Parliament hasn't gotten off it's ass and actually governed the House in four generations, so the task of keeping Bretonia running falls to Queen Carina and her duly appointed representatives.

Fortunately for the population Her Majesty is roughly my age and an idealist; her position allows her to cut through the red tape around the Royal Charters that let Bretonia Mining and Metals run roughshod over Leeds and Dublin. Life expectancy is up, poverty and planetside crime is down.

That just means the criminals are in space. We have the Gaians, a misplaced environmental effort against all terraformation, including that of worlds which never played home to life. We have the Mollys, the remains of the Founders' Day Revolt in Dublin who are fighting a long, bitter, incredibly bloody to civilians, and largely unsuccessful war to secede. From out of the depths Corsairs and Outcasts both have a presence too.

I just picked up a BMM contract for some escort runs, Leeds to Stokes Smelter to LD-14. Interestingly, they appeared to know about my Liberty warrants. Also interestingly, they appeared not to care save that it established my credentials as a combat pilot. Apparently the Ageira Technologies local rep on New London contacted the Crown Prosecution Service and vouched for my good conduct, including a statement obtained in confidence from certain members of the Liberty Navy.

Thank you, Christina and Cynthia. Wherever you are.

* * *

They call working LD-14 "short time"; triple pay, but the radiation levels from work with uranium age people dramatically even at safe dosages and with modern pharmaceuticals to keep them healthy. The station produces one of Bretonia's three main exports: MOX, which is UO2, oxidized uranium, around a small amount of plutonium. Minimally radioactive itself, it provides the fuel that powers large starships and heavy smelter platforms across the colonies.

The station, because it processes material useful for weapons of mass destruction to planetary targets, is also heavily secured...though in ten out of ten launches from LD-14 I have immediately rolled in on Mollys attacking the facility. Launching from LD-14 is the most dangerous part of the run on the Leeds-Stokes-LD-14 and back trip. I'm running with Gateway Shipping convoys; they ship to Kusari and the Border Worlds only, but I'm just covering this part. They actually don't have the major part of the contract for shipping out of LD-14; that's Border World Exports, which holds most of BMM's contracts.

Gateway, though, is good people. Bowex, like BMM itself, will eagerly throw its freelancers under the metaphorical bus to save itself. Gateway has your back when you've got theirs and offers service to small companies Bowex wouldn't even pick up the phone for.

* * *

Stokes isn't turning out to be very safe either. Because it's situated on the main shipping line, there's always a lot of traffic, and most of that traffic is usually either dogfighting with or firing its turrets at Molly ships attacking them or Stokes Smelter itself. It's not as constant as the attacks at LD-14, and you can definitely have a quiet transit of the Stokes waypoint. But it's still amazingly common.

I've completed my week-long contract there with Gateway, and am outbound to check in on some of the other Bretonia systems. Edinburgh first. If the Molly problem is really this bad...or are they desperate? It's been generations, the Mollys are entirely spaceborne and heavily dependent, and there were only so many of them. With the changes to operating practices and the way things are getting better thanks to Queen Carina, it's got to be harder to recruit now that BMM has to treat people better, too. They might be lashing out because they're seeing the inevitable loss by attrition approaching.


	13. The First Corsair

God, things must be really bad. I got to the Edinburgh gate in Leeds and there were a _dozen_ Gaian Startrackers attacking three police Cavaliers. I'm pretty sure the cops expected an uninvolved freelancer to take one look at that and run, but I went after the Gaians. Got away with it because their photon weapons were largely ineffective against my graviton-based shield system, but I still spent nearly all my shield batteries making my five kills. Lost one of my guns, too. Shame, I'm actually really fond of the new Skyrails I've picked up to go with my new Crusader. I'll have to find a replacement. The rest of the ecoloons broke and ran.

That's the nice thing about Gaians. They're terrorists, yes, but they're not really fanatical crazies. If you convince them they're going to die to no purpose, they run for it. I didn't manage to save all three police pilots; one of them didn't punch out when their ship went up. They said they were from Aberdeen Border Station on the other side of the gate, and that Aberdeen had been attacked by over _fifty_ Gaian ships. Their squadron had launched to defend it, but when only four of them were left against still more than thirty-five Gaians, Aberdeen had ordered them to save themselves by jumping to Leeds. These two were the only ones left of those four, after eighteen Gaians chased them.

Complete madness. The Gaians don't usually tangle with cops or military; it gets them bad press and it also gets them dead a lot more often than just attacking Planetform or people who ship to Planetform. We're jumping back to Edinburgh to see if we can save Aberdeen.

* * *

There were eight Gaian ships on the Leeds gate, looking pretty traumatized by their experience of attacking a police installation. When we jumped in they ran; I think Aberdeen's guns had knocked most of the fight out of them. I caught and splashed one before they could hit cruise.

Bloody incompetents running Aberdeen. They should never have sent their fighter squadron out of gun supporting range of the station, kept them where they could work together. Nine good men and women dead for no good reason. I'm not stopping off here; I'd probably punch someone. Onwards to the _Shetland_.

_Shetland_'s everything I remember; fancy food, fancy drinks, fancy people. No swimsuits like some other Orbital Spa and Cruise places, though. I checked for any jobs, but there weren't any. Back to Leeds.

Juni called. She said she found a lead, but...makeup under her eyes still. She's trying to cope by working... Off to meet up with her.

* * *

I fought my first Corsair over Kensington Shipping Platform in New London.

A lone Legionnaire light fighter, making runs on the transports around Kensington without a care in the world. Kensington and Canterbury Station both commed me the moment I came out of the trade lane, offering a thousand-credit bounty on this one fighter since I was the only ship in the area who had a hope of catching him. Thousand creds is a pretty good offer for a single fighter. I turned towards.

He turned into me and opened fire at the same time I did. His Legionnaire didn't have my guns, though, so his shields came down in the first pass. He looped around and got on my tail, so I tried to lead him through Canterbury's guns. He broke off rather than follow me there and I came around and engaged again. I got off two volleys, and I only tagged him with a couple of shots from one before we were in among the transports again. He was spraying shots everywhere at the same time as he used them for cover from my guns, but I still managed to tag him with a couple of hits through it. He looped out, but I was ready for it and came after him. Head-to-head, both of us have our burners on, both of us are hammering the other with everything we have. He dropped my shields and cracked my cockpit armor; if I wasn't wearing a flightsuit I'd be dead.

And I swear I'll never forget it. By the time we were a hundred meters apart, he was on fire and venting his reactor into space. The amount of time he had before his fighter blew could be measured in fractions of a second. I could _see_ the bastard through his cockpit; he had the armor shutters open. His very last act in this world, as he flew past me, was to waggle his wings in salute.

Then the Legionnaire exploded.


	14. Sprague

Cambridge seems quiet for now. There's apparently a serious Corsair problem if you listen to the news, but I haven't actually seen it yet, so. Cambridge itself is...Cambridge, and full of men in stuffed shirts who are...men in stuffed shirts. Unless they're women in stuffed shirts. I dated somebody here once, girl name of Karina. Great legs...

She's probably long gone to Planetform or something. I should find Juni.

* * *

So Juni's got a bottle of Sidewinder Fang. I'd say she knew me, but it's not for me; it's for a guy named Vance. Who turned out not to know where Quintaine was, but did know where his colleague Doctor Sinclair was. Juni set us up as part of a Liberty grant committee, apparently, to convince this guy...

Someday, Juni, I'm going to see you in something other than that LSF jumpsuit. And that thing is looking awful, like it hasn't been washed in weeks. God, maybe I should just buy her some other clothes...I don't think she had any in her Defender when she fled Liberty. I don't know her measurements though.

Incidentally, some Rheinlanders asked after Doctor Sinclair too. And Professor Quintaine's lab was recently firebombed. Oh goody...we better hurry. Omega 3, Sprague.

* * *

"Incoming ships, this is Battleship _Norfolk_. Be advised that tensions between Bretonia and Rheinland have escalated in the Omega systems, and a military confrontation cannot be ruled out." Juni clears her throat to respond.

I quickly talk over her with the accent of my youth, hearing her make a choked sound of annoyance. "_Norfolk_, we have no intention to pass near Rheinland territory. Our destination is Sprague in Omega 3. Have you heard anything regarding it?"

"Negative, Freelancer Alpha One One. We have no reports of pirate or Rheinand craft in that area."

"Thank you, Norfolk. Freelancer Alpha One out. Come on, One-Two." I can picture the expression on Juni's face. Mad as hell.

"What was that?" she demands as we hit the next tradelane.

"Liberty accent's going to draw attention we don't need, Juni." I replied. "Sometimes it's better if you handle the talking, like with Vance, sometimes it's better if I do, especially when the talking is in Bretonia."

About a minute later, as we're about to exit the trade lane, she softly replies. "You're right."

I could feel elated I've finally got Juni listening to me _and_ admitting it. But then I'd feel like an asshole too, so I'll pass.

* * *

"Incoming ships, this is Freeport 1. Be advised that Omega 7 is blockaded by Rheinland forces. If you intend to pass onwards, you should remain here."

"We're headed to Sprague with supplies for an archeological expedition, Freeport 1." I replied when Juni didn't jump in.

"Understood. Be advised we have no information on that area as it is beyond our patrol routes. We will not be able to send help if you are attacked."

"Copy, Freeport 1." Now we're outbound to Sprague...

Holy shit. Rheinland Valkyries. They appeared out of thin air, in open space, at a range of only 500 meters. Cloaking devices? That's impossible. People spent decades chasing that, only to finally make it work and discover it took ten battleship power cores to do it.

Whatever their trick was, it bought them two seconds. They got me to quarter shields in those two seconds. Then Juni and I started firing back, and one of them died. The Defender couldn't fly with these things. The Crusader...well, I can hold you through the first 90 degrees of your turn, rather than the 30 of the Defender. And the Skyrails fire very, very quickly even if they don't eat half your shields in one volley like the plasma cannon did. I hit the shield batteries and got them back up, then went in on another Valkyrie. Juni's Defender is tucked in tight behind me; the Crusader has no turret and so someone has to watch it for trailers. I'd make the obvious crack here, but I honestly don't know if Juni even gives a flying Rheinlander about guys' butts. Hell, for all I know Juni is a lesbian.

Took about a minute but we got them all; the last one connived at his own destruction by setting up a head-to-head he was going to lose. Juni says she has the dig beacon, but no response.

I don't like it. No lights, no contact. We might be too late. Or they might all be digging for artifacts. But I haven't really been lucky lately, so my skepticism is endless. Oh well. At least this'll give me a shot at something else if we don't die.

* * *

"Nobody home?" Juni asks worriedly.

"No signs of a fight." I reply, scanning the area. "We need to find Sinclair and get out of here."

It didn't take us long to find someone, and for that person to find Sinclair. And Sinclair...tall, dark-skinned, thin. Reasonably attractive I suppose, wearing one of those white padded outfits the science types like for comfort in places where the temperature varies dramatically. She...wasn't happy. "And you got this _where_?"

"A thief, on Manhattan. He was killed because of it, right in front of Trent here." Juni said, gesturing to me.

Sinclair gestured to the are around us. "Look around you, Miss Zane. You are standing in the living history of the Dom'Kavash: a race that predates early man by at least ten million years." I should note that some of these ruins, by the way, have a bizarre, unnatural purple glow to them. I keep wondering if should be wearing a lead cup. They're glowing, I can see them glowing, but they also don't seem to be casting light... "Up until recently, relatively speaking, they were the inhabitants of much of our new home here in Sirius. I've been working for years to piece together fragments of their past: their culture, technology, language, anything! These panels have been the most tangible progress I've ever made. They have the core of their writing system, and your artifact interacts with it somehow." She made a frustrated gesture. "This close to unlocking the code, but I have no idea why anyone would want to kill for it."

"Know anything about cloaking Rheinland ships?" I asked.

"Mister Trent, I am a scientist. I deal in facts, not _fiction_." Ooh, sore spot. Well, both ways.

"Well, you'd _better_ listen to these facts then. At least ten thousand people have _died_ because of this trinket, between the crew of the _LNS Unity_ and a half-dozen Rhinelander gunboats and Freeport Seven. I've seen most of them die with my own eyes. Your colleague Doctor Quintaine has disappeared and someone bombed his lab!" Both barrels, there.

"Quintaine's a recluse, he disappears-"

Sharp, slashing hand gesture from me. "He's gone under, Doctor Sinclair. He got himself lost to avoid this. We were attacked by a flight of Rhineland fighters to keep us from getting here. Quintaine knew too much for someone and he saw it coming. Other people haven't been that lucky."

Juni jumps in. "I had friends, Doctor Sinclair, in the Liberty military. Assigned to stop illegal artifact smuggling. They just disappeared and were erased from records like they never existed. They knew something, but they didn't see it coming. I do, and you better see it."

Sinclair crossed her arms. "I'm not leaving without my work. And now do I know you're not the enemy?"

Which was when her male assistant showed up to report the approach of a dozen Rhineland fighters, and Sinclair ordered everything loaded up. Moments later there was a distant explosion. Oh god, if they collapse the shaft and we're _stuck here_...

* * *

One of Sinclair's assistants didn't make it. He was loading stuff in my hold while I crash-started the Crusader; he was going to go in my second seat, which the Crusader has. I had just gotten started and was powering up the shields when I saw him sprinting from a side tunnel with a load of stuff in his arms. I flicked the shields off so he could get aboard.

I saw the bomb come down the shaft. So did he. It landed, and laid there for a second. He had this look on his face. He looked up to my cockpit, this look of complete hopelessness. I flicked the shields on. The bomb exploded. Shrapnel tore him apart. It was...it was bloody, gruesome. I...I really don't have the words. I don't understand why I didn't throw up. I think I was just so flooded with adrenaline I couldn't. I've thrown up every other time I see that image in my head.

We're alive. I splashed a Valkyrie who was real surprised to see anything come out of that shaft after the bombs, and Juni got the other one, clearing the way for Sinclair's Clydesdale. The Rheinlanders _blew the docking ring_ as we were exiting. Nobody ever does that; if you blow the ring most spacecraft can't get in or out of the atmosphere without one-use boosters or one-use reentry shields.

More of them. One of the things is, most people transmit on an open channel in combat. The reason is simple; an organized opponent is going to be so busy dealing with talking to his buddies and them talking back, he doesn't have time to listen to you. A lot of the criminal groups out there don't have the skill or resources to use encrypted voice comms either. One of the first tricks a freelancer learns is to set their radios to pick up everything. It helps a lot, but...it can be a curse, too. Still, Juni's voice is distinctive to my ears, so I manage.

"A hostile has locked on." That's Juni, taking fire but not serious. "Hostile in sight, closing." One of the Rheinlanders, he's on my tail. "All systems are offline." Rheinlander in front of me, taking fire. He's hurt bad, and goes down moments later. "Hostile on my six." Another Rheinlander, Juni's on him. "I've been acquired." One of the Rheinlanders, the one I'm currently lighting up; his shields just went down. "Weapons are locked on." Jink! One of them's on me. Shake him and hit the damaged one again- "I'm on fir-" He explodes before he can finish the sentence. "Hostile contact has me in lock." Juni's hitting the last guy. "Bogie on my six!" Now he's getting worried. "Hostile ship is in sight!" Juni's got him. "No! Nooo-" He's down. "All hostiles are down." Juni declares her scopes clear.

Every fight's like that for me. I hear it all. It provides helpful cues, but there's something...psychologically draining about it. The Outcast pilot who spent her last moment of life screaming "I don't wanna die!" into her comms as her fighter tumbled out of control and smashed into an ice asteroid, the sudden panicked announcement of "Coolant leak!" you hear from Bloodhound pilots occasionally, the desperate "All systems have failed, losing power!" of a Molly over Stokes Smelter as his cruise engine refuses to activate due to damage. Desperate, incredulous, hopeless, frustrated, disbelieving, I've heard dozens of pilots face their death in real time. Sometimes, I tell myself that it's for the better; it reminds me that space combat is not as impersonal as it seems, and it means that I am not a careless murderer because I understand what I do.

But there are days, a lot of days, I'd be glad for the voices to stop. In the groove, in combat, they don't bother me so much. I only shake when I'm safe, too.

More ships coming in, multiple Valks and gunboats.

Sinclair says she knows somewhere we can go. Research station nearby...yeah, that's not going to end well. We've tried this before...

"Almost there! We'll lose them in the nebula!" The nebula in this case is part of the Graham Ice Cloud, so it's a cloud with big ice chunks in it. I hope Sinclair's pilot knows what they're doing. It'd be a shame, not to mention probably drive me insane with frustration, to come all this way and lose her to a chunk of ice. "Just a few more seconds...checking radar...Clear! We lost them."

"You weren't kidding about ships appearing out of nowhere. Thank you for coming to get me." Sinclair sounds calm about it. I suppose she's seen some action; it's lonely out here in Omega and you'd get jumped by something occasionally, I guess.

"You're welcome." Juni manages to sound like she means it, and I'm struck by a moment of irrational pride and jealousy at her skill there.

Baxter's parked in front of...in front of an anomaly. There was one of these at Bedford, too. Anomalies work in ways we don't understand, generating matter out of nothingness. I'm sure van Pelt could have explained it better. We've got a quiet moment on the deck here.

"I think we've managed to shake them, briefly...but we better move on soon." I warn.

"Hope you're right," Juni mumbles. She looks like death warmed over. Oh god, Juni, how long has it been since you slept? If you die on me because you were too fried to beat some Rheinland rookie I'll never forgive you.

I darted back over to my fighter and grabbed a Wake-Wake pill dispenser. "Pop one." I directed Juni, giving her the canister. She gave me a glare even as she took it. "I'm serious, you're not dying on me because you're tired. Just one's not addictive, Juni."

She defiantly kept glaring. I shook my head at her and headed over to talk to Sinclair. "Do you ever get tired of this?"

"The running and the fighting?" I ask, a little facetious, but not much.

"No, this." She gestures to the view of the anomaly. "I got into xenoarcheology in the first place because of views like this. I thought, if my life is so tiny in comparison to the span of the universe...maybe I should seek the perspective of a more ancient race. I wanted to live through them." There's something...almost but not quite like flirting going on here. I put it down to the adrenaline still coursing through both of us. "What do you think?"

"To tell you the truth, I don't even pay attention anymore." I reply. "Life's short. It gets a lot shorter if you're not immersed in the present moment and the near future. The past, the far future...they just can't kill a pilot like the other two can."

The the base's alarm klaxon goes off, and I'm dragging Sinclair to her ship. I'm last to launch, and the station blew apart as I exited the bay. Caught all sorts of shrapnel, shields took care of most of it but I had to spend batteries to keep them up. I'm surprised to hear Sinclair herself on the comm, with an "I have one in my sights" as her Clydesdale duels with a Rheinland gunboat. I'm turning and burning with three or four Rheinland fighters and they're taking some ugly hits. One of them dumps a mine to get me off his tail...and it detonates under my guns before he's out of the blast radius. His entire aft end tears apart and he blows up. Another one, in a head-to-head; the first guy actually lead me into a scissors. He launches missiles...and without thinking, I shift my aim and the spikes are scrap.

Never done that before. I knew it was technically possible. People have documented it. But I've never seen it. I'm shooting down inbound missiles now. Also, for a scientist, Sinclair's a damn fine pilot. She actually managed to get the Gunboat. We win. Sinclair knows a jump hole to Cambridge.

In Cambridge. Sinclair's talking about the artifact; she found it on Pygar...where the hell is Pygar? I've heard the name, something about the Omicron systems. Jesus, that's way out there. She knew it was important, so she set off to show it to Quintaine; but it was stolen, so she never finished the journey, and hasn't actually seen Quintaine in years.

And then two Rhienland Valkyries decloak in front of us. Juni is about to engage, but they're dark; no lock alarms, no EM emissions at all save for their engines. "STOP! Do not open fire: we mean you no harm! We're here to warn you."

"Why should we trust you?" Reasonable question from Juni.

"Because we have deserted from Rheinland. Our squadron opened fire on us after we disobeyed orders to destroy a civilian transport. We had no choice but to flee. The Rheinland Military is watching all exits out of this system! You have an artifact they want they know that you're here in Cambridge." Son of a bitch. Not only is Rheinland willing to violate territorial boundaries and start wars with Liberty, but also with Bretonia? Battleship _Norfolk_ is going to love this.

"Why are you telling us this?" Juni again.

"Survival. We're heading to a jump hole that takes us directly to Leeds. With our cloaking devices, we could ambush and torpedo a capital ship, but we would need help against the fighters."

Sinclair believes them. I don't, but want them where I can see them. Juni is reluctant, but she agrees to try this out. I'm keeping my guns pointed at one of them anyways.

And there...is the Battleship _RMS Wotan_. Mother of Mercy, the flagship of the Rheinland Western Fleet. And it sees us. They told us to power down and surrender. We didn't reply. They sent out fighters...

And as the fighters went past, the two defectors decloaked and unloaded torpedoes into critical systems that would have been impossible to target if the battleship had been combat-ready. The _Wotan_ never had a chance. I guess all is not right in the Fatherland. A few splashes later, we were clear, and headed to Leeds.

* * *

"We made it! Thank you for the help." Juni's happy to be alive. Well, aren't we all?

"You're welcome! But it's hardly over. Something is happening in Rheinland, something bad, and I'm afraid the worst is yet to come. We'll fly to the Norfolk and give ourselves up. Hopefully someone in the Bretonian military will believe our story. Good luck to you!" They're pretty decent sorts, these Rheinlanders. I might have to check in on them if this ever ends, buy them a drink.

"You too, guys." I reply. Now I just have to introduce Juni and Sinclair to Tobias. Who is a perpetual womanizer. Maybe I should have let the Rheinlanders kill me. "Sinclair, Juni. Let's head to Leeds. Meet me in the equipment room thirty minutes after we get down, okay? I've got to make sure things are clear."

"Sure thing Trent." Oh thank god, Juni didn't question me.

* * *

"Trent, where have you been?" Tobias isn't happy. "I've been worried!"

"In good company." I assure him. "Look, Tobias, I'm going to be having a couple of friends around. Promise me you'll keep a civil tongue in your head."

"Ah, lady friends? And more than one? My boy, you've-"

"Bought a gun in the last month and not yet shot anyone with it. Jun'ko's Liberty Security Force, she's not the sort of person you should be flirting with if you like your bodyparts staying associated." Come to think of it, that may well be why I've never flirted with Juni. Aside from the fact you don't flirt with employers. It's bad business practice. Look, don't touch. "She's been through a lot of crap lately. Don't screw this up for me, okay?"

"Never, my boy." I tried. However Tobias got kicked out of the BAF for hitting on a female superior so I suspect I'm screwed either way. Juni and Sinclair came in about then.

"Juni, this Tobias. Tobias...sort of raised me."

"Richard Winston Tobias Esquire, my dear lady." Tobias introduces himself. I want to punch him, but he's my closest thing to a dad, and you don't punch your dad unless something's _really_ wrong with you. If the problem is on his end, and big enough to justify violence against your dad, it's probably okay to use a weapon already.

"And from such humble beginnings, your head grew to its present size?" Juni asked acidly. Oh boy, she's still mad about the Wake-Wake pills.

I shrugged in response. The best thing with Juni is to just let it roll off you, or so King told me once. "That was four years knocking around the Colonies in a Clydesdale. What's Sinclair think?"

"She's going to need Quintaine's help. So we really do have to find him." Juni replied. Tobias is checking her out the whole time and not even subtle about it.

"Damn. Okay. You look, I'll keep food on the table, Sinclair does what she does best." I reply, shaking my head. It's never easy. Never.

"How hero-" She finally turns to Tobias. "WHAT?"

"I can't remember when I ever saw such a vision of loveliness..."

Juni's face cycled through several expressions before she burst out with an "Oh brother..." and stormed off. I turned to Tobias with an expression only slightly less wrathful than Juni's. "Tobias? I hope she shoots you." Then I stormed off too.


	15. Dublin

I didn't leave Leeds right away. I had to do a few things first. Some of which, on reflection, are kind of creepy. Hopefully not enough to make Juni kill me, though.

I've commented a few times on the state of her clothing. I know, if I ask her, she'll tell me to mind my own business. So I got some clothes and made sure they're in the room she's using. They ought to fit, too. Of course, the reason why they ought to fit is where I had to do something creepy. In our last few times dismounting, I've had my fighter's backup optical rangefinder record Juni and compare her image from several ranges and angles. The LSF jumpsuit fits fairly tight, and I've been close enough to her to make an educated guess on the vest's thickness. Thus, I have what I pray to any listening deity is Juni's measurements so I could buy her the clothes she's too...

Oh hell. Let's be honest. She's too traumatized and too busy with her coping mechanisms to buy for herself. I wish she'd talk to me about it. There's so much I want to get off my chest too.

* * *

Then there's Tobias. He checked out my ship, saw the obvious combat damage, and looked at the Skyrails. Tobias is a lot of things; one of the more positive ones is that the man knows his starship combat systems. Bretonia Policy Authority pilots on Leeds wouldn't, and probably still don't, buy from anyone else.

"You've been getting into trouble, boy. I heard from the local police wings. They said some new freelancer was working with BMM on the local routes, and he was a hot hand." Tobias gives me an assessing look. "You?"

"Probably." I reply. "Splashing Mollys is doing a public service, Tobias. You know how I feel about them." My parents died in a shuttle accident. That accident was their shuttle colliding with an asteroid using the trade lane between Stokes and Leeds. Trade Lanes are specially designed; objects above a certain mass cannot enter or exit except at a terminus. The lane has to be disrupted to allow it otherwise. And the people who disrupt Trade Lanes in Leeds?

The Mollys.

"I don't disagree boy, but you've got to consider how you go about it best. I have a shipment in of new weapons in, Class Five Advanced Skyrails. Your ship has room for them. You'll be leaving with those guns mounted." Tobias is insistent.

"All right. But I'm paying for them. Market price. I can do it old man, and I'm not screwing you out of money." Tobias balked, but I talked him into it. I'm headed to New London for now.

* * *

Helped a police flight splash some Corsairs, then some Bounty Hunters started shooting at me. It appears I'm back on the Guild's shit list despite my new ship. The cops threatened to light the Bounty Hunters up if they kept it up, so here were are. I need to find someplace better suited to my...apparent talents at killing people.

...I need to go to Dublin.

* * *

Dublin is the open wound of Bretonia. It is also the source of one of the House's critical exports: Gold. The only large, commercially viable source of gold in Colonies, in fact, for either industrial or decorative use. Conditions in the working areas were, of course, awful. BMM had carte blanche to do whatever had to be done to keep the gold flowing. Generations of miners died. It all came to a head in 752 AS, 48 years ago, during the Founders' Day Revolt. The newly formed Mollys killed Sir Edmund Graves, the head of mining operations in the system, trashed most of them, destroyed the gunboat _RSFS Storm_ and so badly crippled the _RSFS Hood_ it was left to drift in the system, unable to make it back to New London where it could be repaired.

By all accounts Edmund Graves had it coming. The Mollys have not confined themselves to people who had it coming, however; they attack other BMM employees working the Dublin fields, BMM anywhere, and random Bretonian citizens that happen to cross their path. For the last five years it's a known fact they're trying to build either a nuclear weapon or acquire enough spent nuclear fuel to irradiate New London and kill millions, because why not. They're fighting for their freedom, they say. But time and again, when upon the public stage they prove to be cold, vicious bastards. Queen Carina's actions undercut their call to the working BMM employee quite painfully, too; I've heard it suggested that she deliberately set the bar above the Molly's own standard of living to make life hard on them, and while I readily believe she's that astute, her passion for improving the lot of her people seems a bit more all-consuming than that.

There are no Trade Lanes in Dublin; construction would be impossible without committing far more military forces to the situation. The Bretonia Police Authority doesn't even enter the system. The main points of interest are Graves Survery and Mining (a wholly owned subsidiary of BMM) which is surrounded by weapons platforms and the asteroid field edges around it are mined, Battleship _RSFS Essex_ near the Jump Gate provides security to the gate and some extra for the station. The Independent Miners Guild repressurized and fixed up the _Hood_ and runs it as an outpost on the other side of the system from Graves. The Mollys occupy a gold field themselves, heavily mined, opposite Hood. And if you're not having enough fun yet, the Corsairs come up from somewhere around the IMG fields.

I'm going to _Essex_ and picking up some jobs there. Rather not deal with a minefield to get to mission areas, or the occasional outbreak of fighting on the _Hood_. Might swing by Graves to do a little freelance mining though; it's got to be safer there.

* * *

I figured most of what goes out of _Essex_ would be escort ops. Boy, was I wrong. Essex has triple the standard number of wings and supports about the same amount of Bounty Hunters. Only about 40% of them fly escorts; the rest are on constant search-and-destroy or strike ops. The Mollys are almost constantly trying to set up new stations; apparently Arranmore Base can't meet their needs for food or water recycling and they need new facilities. In the meantime they stopgap by buying from the IMG on the _Hood_, using gold. That gives them two failure points: traveling to the _Hood_, and their new station attempts. Both of them are being actively attacked by the Crusaders and Barracudas on the _Essex_. I asked for a job, and they gave me a half-dozen missions to tackle small space stations or clusters of weapons platforms. The money's pretty decent, 8k+ a pop, installation only; nobody cares if you pop defending fighters, and some of the Bounty Hunter pilots are actually lauded for their skills at get-in get-out on installation missions.

The Corsairs are considered a secondary but necessary target. Ships only, mostly, though sometimes some Weapons Platforms. Amusingly, the IMG doesn't like them and sometimes you meet an IMG strike wing on the same mission when you go after Corsairs. The Corsairs themselves are everything I remembered them to be; vicious, incredibly skilled, possessing their own somewhat twisted code of honor. They offer no quarter to Bounty Hunters and expect none. To the BAF pilots and freelancers who work the system, though, if you let a Corsair go and meet them again later, they will let you go that one time. They're supposedly talkative on the comms sometimes too, and will complement the bravery of other pilots, or lament that someone so skilled must be killed. I've never actually heard them do either, but enough people claim to have that I'll provisionally believe it.

The other thing about Dublin: you are, almost literally, swimming in gold. Inside some of the asteroid fields you can literally see gold flecks going past your canopy, and you get it caught up in nooks and crannies on your ship in small amounts. Stray fire during a dogfight in an asteroid field usually cracks enough rocks that you can tractor in a cubic meter or two worth of gold.

I've done a little freelance mining myself and it only took me a couple of days of mining on the side to assemble 35 cubic meters worth of fairly pure gold. That's huge. I've flown twelve strike sorties in the last two days, and I need a break. I'm headed to New London where I'll sell off the gold and catch some rack time in a proper bed.


	16. The Diamond Caper

Author's note: The story will somewhat diverge from being a perfectly faithful retelling of Freelancer now. Rest assured the campaign story will continue; simply with additions to give more room for the characters to be characters. Incidentally, the route I'm describing later is possible at this point in both Crusader and Clydesdale. Just don't expect to have fun doing it.

* * *

Juni sent me a message. Text only.

\- Need to talk. Not about Quintaine. Where are you?

I'm crashing, thanks to my gold shipment, at the Windsor on New London. Suite 461. Juni said she'd be there in a few hours.

* * *

She's wearing one of the sets of clothes I arranged for her. "Trent..." She gestures at herself. "Your doing?"

Suck it up Trent, and get ready to hurt. "Yeah. I started to suspect you didn't have any other clothes with you when we left Liberty."

"You were right about that. How'd you get my measurements?"

"Honestly? Crusader's optical rangefinder took measurements of you, and I subtracted for the vest based on my best guess." I reply, a little tense. "You just kept looking worse and worse, and, well...the LSF outfit's kind of attention-grabbing."

I half-expect a slap. It doesn't come. Instead, a soft laugh, and Juni collapses into the nice armchair, next to the fireplace. The room was going for a retro feel, I think. I wouldn't actually know, truth is this suite is way above my normal paygrade and out of my social class. Moving gold has its advantages. "You were right, Trent. I spent an hour in a bathroom having a breakdown before I messaged you."

She's wearing a red shirt and pants combo, subdued. Same old boots though; I didn't even think to get her new shoes. A little damp; on New London it's almost always raining, so she probably got wet on the trip from ship to the first building and has stayed under cover since. I shrugged in response to her comment and sat on the bed; Juni had taken the good chair. "It didn't take a genius, Juni. As my second seater liked to say, aren't we two sorry sons of bitches."

"You don't have a second seater," Juni observed, with a snort.

"Used to. Tristain Rhodes. Used to a lot of things. Used to fly a Clydesdale, used to have a second seater, used to think the universe was sane, used to believe I was actually going to survive this..." I sigh. "I'm not much of a therapist. My talents are more related to using the stick and throttle."

Juni chuckled. "They are?" She was...musing. I don't think I've ever seen anyone _muse_ before, really. "I was going to say they're in keeping calm while everyone else is losing their minds. Over Manhattan, I just...gave up. Not completely, but close to it. Twenty fighters, a battleship, a cruiser, I knew we were dead. I wasn't even trying to save myself very hard. Then I see you go roaring into a flight of ten Defenders like you ran out of fucks to give on the day you were born. I remember wondering what was going through your mind, there. I didn't think you had that kind of defiance in you."

"I don't." I flopped back on the bed and stared up at the ceiling. At least the room doesn't have any giant gargoyles in it; that's a big part of Bretonian architecture for some bizarre reason. "I thought we were dead too. And then I started feeling...stubborn. Like, okay, you're going to kill me, but you're going to sweat and bleed for it. You are going to have _nightmares_ about the day you killed Edison Trent."

Juni actually giggles. Oh god, is she drunk? I didn't notice before, but... There are just some things I don't want to know. "Why don't you use your first name, anyways, Ed?"

"You just demonstrated. Think about it." I can't see her from my position staring at the ceiling. I am okay with this now that I'm worried she's drunk. As I said, there are things I am not comfortable knowing.

Juni _giggled_ again. It's not that the sound of it grates my nerves or something; actually, I think Juni's laugh is rather pleasant. Rather it's that this is completely unlike her so no matter how pleasant it sounds the effect is that of somebody wearing Juni's skin like a suit. Huh, I guess that does mean it grates my nerves...just not in the usual way...god, now I feel like I need to be drunk. "All right, Trent. You don't think we're going to make it?"

"Back to Manhattan? No. Are we doomed? Probably. The Crown Prosecution Service has refused to extradite me, because I had friends still in Liberty who slipped a quiet word to them. You're flying under the radar for now because you haven't tried to get a job around here, so..." I sighed. "I'm paying your way, Juni. That isn't quite the relationship either of us thought we'd be having."

"No. It isn't." Juni replied softly. "And you haven't really complained about the fact I'm not in charge but still giving orders. Thank you. But you're right, it's not what we thought it would be. The world isn't the shape it we thought it was. And there's a lot of things about this that I am not comfortable with, that I will never be comfortable with, but you hit one of them on the head. I'm not paying my own way. What I'm doing is important to both of us or I have to think you wouldn't keep paying for me, but I'm feeling...very dependent, and I don't like it." I heard her get out of the chair and approach, and saw her out of the corner of my eye. "You said you had a second seater once. I'm going quietly crazy fighting and chasing shadows, Trent. Do you need a second-seater now?"

"No." I can't actually tell her no, though; that would be cruel, excessive. I'm stating a fact when I say no, pointing out that I've been flying without a second-seater for more than three years. "But I'll take one."

* * *

"You ever flown in a Bretonian fighter before?"

"No." Juni replied.

"It's laid out pretty much the same. Second-seater has all the controls the first-seater does, but most are deactivated by default. They'll unlock on my verbal command, a flipped switch, or in the event my brain activity and other vital signs suggest unconsciousness or death. Crusader doesn't have a turret for you, but you have the sensors, comms, the countermeasures gear and the nanobots and shield batteries. I'm not going to be a dick about comm procedure with you so if you feel like saying something just say it." Juni nods, and climbs into the cockpit. I do the preflight and avoid staring at her butt as she climbs the ladder. She has one of those eyepiece eyetrace systems for her helmet, which the military likes for the hunter-killer system that guides the guns on most ships. Civvie pilots generally don't use them, settling for less reliable but less vision-encumbering systems.

Some pilots get really weird about having other people in their cockpit, like it's a violation. The ship is just a thing to me; it goes places and does stuff, amazing places and amazing stuff, but I don't imbue it with special significance over any other ship. This one's ready fly. "Comfortable back there?"

"You ever tried wearing somebody else's shirt, and it didn't quite fit?" Juni replied.

"I get you. We're headed to Dublin. It could get rough as early as the ingate. Once we're insystem we'll head to the _Essex_ and see what's up." I have no idea what Juni's used to her flights. Granted when we fly together it's Rhinelanders and god knows what everywhere. But though she's done well with it, I don't think she's used to it. "Even with the showdowns in Omega between Bretonia and Rheinland ships and the crazy stuff going on in the Tau systems, we are going into the closest thing to an active war zone in the Colonies, Juni."

"Copy. No sleeping." I can't actually see her, which is different from when we're flying together in separate ships; the comm pops a window up. "What's the likely bad guys?"

"You remember those Bloodhounds the Liberty Rogues fly? Mollys use Wolfhounds, the bigger yet not really better brother. Corsairs use the Legionnaire light fighter; big wings. Neutron weapons on both."

* * *

"Ingate's clear."

"All right, bit of a backup." There's a BMM convoy ahead of us, two Clydesdales and an escort wing of Startrackers.

A jump is a weird phenomenon, even compared to the other form of superluminal travel, the Trade Lane. Every jump via jump gate takes the exact same amount of time regardless of the distance between gates. The visible "path" of the jump tunnel each ship travels along is always the same, and bears no relation to anything in normal space. Ships that jump in company travel their jump tunnels alone, but arrive together. What can I say? Weird shit happens when you snap the laws of physics over your knee.

We arrive in the Dublin system. There is no sign of the BMM convoy. There are, however, four Molly Wolfhounds. "Going evasive. Juni, any of them hit by the guns on the gate?"

"Uh-" she's hearing them talk and she's not used to it, "four and low!"

I turn into that one and blast him with a two-second burst; he's space junk. After you fight Corsairs, Mollys just don't feel as threatening. The guy screams as his reactor melts through his ship, and I hear Juni's gasp. "Keep an eye on the other two. If they both start a run on me I want to know it."

"Roger." If she's worried to be going three on one, I don't hear it. Besides, it's two on one now; the other guy tried to jump to cruise after his shields fell and died before he achieved cruise velocity. "Running in from your six." Shields down to a quarter but recovering quick. The missile lock alarm goes off. "Countermeasures." Juni adds, and the alarm goes silent.

Come about, trade fire. One of his engines goes dark and he goes into a flat spin. Desperate attempt to shut down his outer engine and stabilize; the sound of a man retching into his helmet, and...

I don't have time. I don't have time to listen to him choke to death on his own vomit. I could leave it there. He's not a threat. _But I don't_-another burst. His ship blows up.

Juni's silent as swing on target with the last one, turn inside their attempt to get behind me, and bring them down clean with burst that drops their shields and destroys the cockpit.

"We clear?" I ask.

"Yes." Juni doesn't sound any different from normal. "_Essex_ is at your five and high."

"Incoming Bretonian Heavy Fighter, this is battleship _Essex_. We have you on our scanners." We're still several klicks out from the _Essex_. "Submit your designation."

"This is Freelancer Alpha One One." I reply.

"Data received, Alpha One One. Where are you headed?"

"We're out of New London, headed to you _Essex_."

"Rodger. Be advised, pattern is full. You will be cleared to dock when it's free." Essex is surrounded by fighter wings, some Bounty Hunters, some Bretonia Armed Forces.

"They just drive off an attack?" Juni asks.

"It's always like this. You'd see fewer in space if they drove off an attack." I reply.

* * *

We flew two installation assaults, one Mollys and one Corsair, and a strike against a ship group of Mollys. Ended at Graves Survey and Mining, shooting rocks for gold, before we landed to catch a nap before the trip back. Juni insisted on that part; considering we ran off two Molly raids while hanging around outside Graves, they gave us the bunks for free. The Mollys know me by name now. They've made threats; a pickaxe to the head and a bit of fool's gold in the pocket, the traditional Mollys calling cards for an assassination.

Juni...having another person in the cockpit is comforting. A fighter pilot and a freelancer is a master of their own destiny in a way few other people ever will be. They live and die by their own skills and choices and those of no other. But you are intensely alone, often the only person in a few lightseconds who isn't seeking your violent death or the only one who cares if you live or die. If you punch out, if something goes wrong, you will drift and die alone.

Sometimes you ping passing ships for their flight details just to hear another human voice. Having another human there, close enough that the cockpit is just noticeably warmer from the extra body heat, who responds when you speak...that helps a lot. But Juni's a pilot at heart, and she's irritable now; frustrated by her lack of control.

* * *

"Trent." Juni shook me awake. "You okay? You were talking in your sleep."

"Revisiting Liberty." I reply. "What time is it?" I know what time it is, but it makes a nice distraction.

"Time to go. You want to shoot more rocks, oh great ace?" There's the edge I expect from Juni.

"I like rocks. They don't shoot back. They don't maneuver." And then the nightmare floods back and some part of me decides it's a good moment to get hysterical. "They don't scream or beg or cry-" I abruptly doubled over and tried to throw up. Nothing came out; the dull ache in my gut is the result of not eating in several days. My stomach doesn't care; it hears the voices and sees the images in my head and keeps trying to void itself.

"Trent!" That's real worry in Juni's tone and she pulls me up. "How many kills did you have when I hired you?"

"Hundreds of combat actions. You run to the Edge, the Independent Worlds, you fight," I replied. It's not quite a straight answer.

And there are disadvantages to one's only confidant being a trained interrogator. "How many _kills_, Trent." Juni's tone is somehow both sharp and soft, a knife that cuts away my defenses.

"Two." I slump. "An Outcast, in the Tau systems, who didn't break off when they should have. And the Liberty Rogue who killed my first second seater in a bar fight. I took him on in space."

Now it's Juni's term to slump. "You were serious. I didn't think you were serious about not liking combat...I just thought you wanted more money. Trent, I'm-"

I wipe at my mouth. "I'm the only living Freeport Seven survivor because Jun'ko Zane hired me. I'm the only living Freeport Seven survivor because Jun'ko Zane was there to watch my back. Don't say you're sorry. It goes bad places."

"I get you." She shrugs. "Feel like doing something memorable to round this off Trent?"

"How memorable you thinking? Because if you want really memorable, I know how to do it." I reply.

"Hit me." Juni says, with a come-here gesture.

"Omega Five. The hard way." From her silence, I'm not sure she believes me. She has good reason not to. I'm describing an elaborate attempt at a suicide. Omega-5 is all pirates, all the time; Red Hessians or Corsairs for whatever flavor of Pirate you like. The Hessians are probably the only people outside of the Corsairs and Outcasts that could fight either organization without the explicit backing of a House; a well-organized, well-lead group of former Rheinland miners.

"You really think we can do it?" Juni asks.

"It's been done before. Did it with Tristan as our first run, get some starting capital. Light arms to Ronneburg, the Red Hessians. Diamonds to Leeds on the way out." I am still describing an elaborate suicide attempt; we were young and stupid. But we did pull it off.

* * *

"You're sure about this." Juni isn't.

"I'm sure." We're in Cambridge, headed through one of the ice clouds to a jump hole. They look just like jump gates to travel through, for the record, though the time is variable. "Ten seconds. Brace."

"Jumping...TRENT!" Fighters. Corsair. Six of them. "Trent, those aren't Legionnaries!"

"I know." Corsair heavies. Centurions. Turning and burning. Upper loop. "Call it when they gather for a run."

Missile alarm. "Countermeasures!" Juni's not happy. "Trent, this is crazy!"

"I know. I can do it. Keep the shields up as long as you can." The battlefield is crowded; Omega 5 is a protoplanetary disc, I think. Ice mostly. I've got this guy down just a bit, two volleys, he's at three-quarters shields-

"On your six!" The Crusader's shields go down in a single volley. Juni brings them back up, using a quarter of our shield batteries. I turn into the attackers and fire off a few random shots to keep them honest, before getting back on the one from before. I have to whittle down their numbers. This time I manage to drop their shields as they glance off an iceball, and their tailplane tears off.

"I'm out, any more damage and I'm sucking space!" A woman's voice. The Centurion starts powering its cruise drive.

Another volley and the Crusader's shields go down. Juni brings them back up, but there was hull damage that time and she deploys nanobots as well. A second later-damn, I blew that dodge. The shields go down again while I'm burning at them and they're burning at me and we're all firing at each other. One shot glances off the Crusader's canopy. "Trent, this is nuts!"

"_I can do it._" I turn inside on the crowd, and pick one of them up, pounding him. He comes apart under a two-second burst, but that's two seconds too long. The shields go down again.

"Out of shield batteries!" Juni warns.

"You can keep us alive." I reassure. And I know, as I know that force on my chest is acceleration, that I can do this. They will not touch me. They _can not_ touch me. The shields come back up and start to recharge after fifteen seconds. They haven't connected yet. I swing around and burn through another merge, jinking and juking while they mostly hold their courses for better shots. One of them loses most of his shields. We're down to 1/10th shields but they're still up. Turn on him; he tumbled and got his guns around fast enough, so we do another, much shorter head to head. His shields are down. He missed me. Swing around. His wing comes off-

Shields down! Jink! Juni gets the nanobots working again. Keep jinking, keep jinking-take that shot! Got one's shields down! The one I took his wing off, he bounces off an asteroid and nearly tears his ship apart. He decides to run for it. Behind the one I had his shields down, firing, hammering him.

"Trent, check six!" I can't let this one go. It's been thirteen seconds. He comes apart. The shields come up at 1/8th strength. They go down again immediately as I start jinking once more. "_You're insane, Edison._"

"I'm winning the fight of my life, Jun'ko." The shields come up, yet again. Two Corsairs. Just two? They're nothing. They don't even pose a challenge anymore. Play them off. They can't drop my shields unless I let them.

Two kills later and I start moving towards Ronneburg. "Trent, Stilettos."

"Hessians." Border World Heavy Fighters. The Stiletto is scary shit, more than the Corsair Centurion. I think I could have beat six Stilettos too, but I'm not sure like I was about Centurions, gravity, and taxes. "They don't care about us yet. Hessians haven't heard of me since four years ago."

"Freelancer, what is your destination?" One of the Stiletto pilots on the comm.

"Ronneburg Station, with a load of personal weapons. Glad to see you guys, Corsairs all over the entrances." I reply.

"Ja, they've been quite active. You are cleared to Ronneburg."

* * *

Juni looks distinctly uncomfortable in the same room as a group of Red Hessians, but they don't seem to mind her. Repairs were simple, some stuff to that silly fishtail Bretonians put on their fighters. I'm working the deal with one of the locals. Juni's trying not to grab her gun just on reflex.

"Your lady friend, she's not used to us?" he asks. No female Hessians here.

"Well, she was LSF, until they gave her a bum rap for smuggling and treason. She's not used to this kind of company." I reply, faking amusement. "She's good people, though. Knows how hunting works. Lets us stay ahead."

"A lucky catch, friend." He hands over a small bag. "Most of the diamonds we're loading are industrial-grade of course, but these ten, ah. Something else entirely. A small bonus for your services; we needed these weapons for our fight with the Corsairs."

Real, jewelry-quality diamonds...I count ten, like he said. I couldn't even guess at karats or anything. These are probably worth as much as the crappy industrial ones they're loading into the hold, all 35 meters cubed of them. I'll give Juni half, of course; yes, the pilot has a lot to do with success, but it's not like I've got reason not to be generous at this moment, if we make it out of the system alive. We're probably going to; getting out's a lot easier than getting in.

* * *

We left via the jump hole to Omega-3, rather than Cambridge. Had a little scuffle with some Corsairs on the way out, only three, and we had three Stilettos turn up and go in after them in the middle of it, so I just jetted and let the Hessians mop up. There is no jump gate into Omega-5 since the only people who live there are pirates, only jump holes. Easier to exit to Omega-3. Don't have to pass right next to a Corsair base. Passed Sprague again, took the regular jump gate to Cambridge instead, flew to Leeds via the jump hole the _Wotan_ had died guarding. Back to Leeds.

"Juni?" I handed her the small velvet bag.

She opened it and looked at me. "You've got a huge amount of diamonds in the hold, what's a few like this for?"

"Those are industrial-quality. Sawtips and stuff. Optronics. What you have there are five jewelry-quality diamonds. Sell them, make yourself the pair of earrings you always wanted...whatever. They're yours. You earned them." I chuckle softly. "No dependency here."

"You're crazy, Trent." She replies. Oh, the cutting remark. Feeling better Juni? " But you're a damn fine pilot. I'll be in touch."


	17. The Race

"Got a lead, Trent. Dexter Hovis on the _Hood_ works for Quintaine. Can you handle it?" Juni comms me while I'm on the way back to New London.

"Probably. _Hood_'s not quite friendly territory though. The IMG is cool, but the Mollys hate my guts. And the rest of me. Be obliged if you could show up at some point." I reply.

"Aww, you missed me." Juni teased, amused.

"Yeah. I did." Play it flat, serious. Not flirting. Christ, I'm not even really messing with her. It gets lonely in the cockpit.

She's silent a couple seconds, like she doesn't know what to say. Then: "I'll be there."

* * *

So I asked around. Dexter Hovis was a racer in Liberty, until he ran into David Caine, son of a senator and also a racer, considered the best of his generation. Hovis had a gambling problem, but mainly, he hated to lose. When it looked like Caine would unseat Hovis in the California Annual, Caine's ship abruptly blew up as a result of what was determined to be a bomb aboard. Hovis finished in first and didn't stop flying 'til he hit the _Hood_ and its own unsanctioned racing circuit, since even if the investigation couldn't quite prove he'd bombed Caine's ship, it came close enough to make him unwelcome in any legitimate race in the Colonies.

Hovis himself is a bit of an ass. He keeps calling me "Bretonian" and he'll only give me the info if I race him. I kind of wonder how he'll react if I wave a gun in his face. He's older than I expected, got to be in his sixties, but still looks and move pretty spry. He's got a Border Worlds Dagger he races with. The IMG guys warned me direct: Hovis runs the race course here by now, and he has roughly the same sense of honor and sportsmanship as an Outcast. Good times. I wish Juni had shown up. Let's go.

"We have a challenger! His name is Trent! Against our very own...DEXXXXTTTEERRR HOVIS! Place your bets! Make it quick!"

"I was beginning to think you were scared!" Hovis is trying to psych me out? Oh _come on._ As the Liberty Navy and the Corsairs have learned through bloody, painful experience, I am far more dangerous psyched out than I am normally.

"Not a chance. Had to persuade some Mollys setting a bomb on my ship to sod off. I said I'd race you, here I am." Yes, Hovis. I know who and what you are, and what you've done.

"I like your attitude, Bretonian! It'll be a shame to see you burn, but hey, that's the price of sportsmanship!" Hovis replies, either unphased or genuinely believing me. Which to be fair, I did have to wave my gun at some Mollys headed in the general direction of my ship while I was boarding.

"Welcome, racers!" Robot race announcer thingie, it seems. "You have selected a one-lap race! Do you need a review of the regulations?"

"Of course I don't, ya hunk of junk." Hovis lets out a long-suffering sigh. "I built this damn thing but its memory banks are busted. Simple rules Bretonian: one round, no shootin', no bumpin', and if you stink it up or chicken out on the course, you'll make me angry. And you don't want that. You ready?"

"Sure." I think I'd actually find this easier if people were shooting at me. I've gotten good at coping with that, just to survive.

"Racers, on your marks! Three...Two...One..."

Cruise engines activated. Cruise engines charging. "And they're off!" Cruise engines kick in. 22 gates. First one's the same as the last one. Fly a tight race. Hovis is just a little ahead of me, but he's losing ground, slowly, but centimeters it feels like. "And at the quarter mark, Hovis is in the lead!" Our shields scrape. Hovis complains. The announcer rules it accidental since it lasted less than a second. Ahead by a nose. Hovis is flying more conservative now that he's behind. Terrible time to fly conservatively. He's losing ground faster. "And at the halfway mark the newcomer leads!" In the background I can hear bets being exchanged. People cheering for Hovis. People cheering for me. Groans and adulation. "Trent leads at the three-quarters-"

"Give 'im something to think about, boys!" Two weapons platforms and two ships go active and target me. Oh, you stupid son of a bitch-I'm so used to people shooting at me by now! You're making it _easier_...

"Trent wins!" The platforms and ships turn their targeting gear off as I cruise through the last gate. They never got closer than firing twenty-five meters behind me. Completely useless sods, like Hovis himself.

"Trent, no hard feelin's, right?" Hovis asks. He sounds scared. He damn well ought to be scared. That Dagger of his will come apart real fast under my guns if I decide to kill it.

"Depends on whether you tell me what I want to know." I reply diffidently. Juni's rubbing off; I can manage not to tell him I'd be lighting his ass up if not for that. Not really lying like a pro, yet, but improving.

"Alright, I'll tell you what you want to know. But not over the comm channel! Meet me on the deck of the _Hood_." Probably for the best, that. My trigger finger is considerably less itchy in person. I've never actually had cause to use the gun, and only had cause to pull it a couple times.

Hovis on the deck is the Hovis he was before; all buoyant bonhomie and leaving me with an urge to hit him. "A fine race, Bretonian! I haven't felt the challenge in years!"

"Quintaine." Not cold. Keep it coolish, but not cold.

"He ain't here. He contacted me to take him even further into the asteroid fields, to an abandoned mining station called the _Glorious_. He's holed up with the pirates that took it over. He said he needed to disappear for a while... Naturally, you didn't hear any of this from me." The _Glorious_. Hovis doesn't get it, or doesn't care, but that ship has history. _Glorious_ was one of the two mining ships that lead the Founder's Day Revolt. The Royal Space Forces mauled it, and destroyed its sistership _Courageous_.

"Naturally. Where do I go?"

"Take the old Trade Lane into the asteroid field. Careful now, the lane ain't stable. Sometimes asteroids get through. And watch out for a group of Rheinlanders that were headed that way; they didn't look too friendly." Hovis gave it up to them too, I suppose. Christ, these scientists need to find more trustworthy people.

"Did they race?" A bit more acid than I'd like there, but Hovis doesn't seem to notice.

"Hah! Naw, too yellar." I turned back to my ship. "Hey, Bretonian! If it don't work out, you know you can always come back and race with us."

God save me from this yokel. God save me from the urge to kill him where he stands.

* * *

"...negative. Leave the area at once." _Glorious_ Tower, according to the transmission.

"This is your last warning! Surrender Quintaine, or you will be destroyed!" And that is the Rheinland ship _Neuberg_. Probably a gunboat; bringing a cruiser or battleship into the asteroid fields would be madness.

Four Valks. A gunboat. Against what looks like idiot brother of a GMG gas miner and four Hawk light fighters. The Hawk is built in Liberty, for the civilian market; it's a step up from the Starflier and Startracker and can give most pirate and House light fighters a run for their money, though Kusari Drakes and Rheinland Banshees will beat the Hawk up for its lunch money on either raw maneuverability or raw durability. They're still no match for Rheinland heavies either.

"All turrets, open fire. Barrera, Sanchez, take out the fighters. Foshko, Jarvis, get the gunship." Well, I guess _Glorious_ intends to fight.

"_Glorious_, this is Freelancer Alpha One One, you look like you could use a hand." Roll in on the gunboat, who's not happy about the appearance of a real heavy fighter at all and shooting at me with everything it has. It doesn't do a lick of good, as the gunboat goes down in one pass. Swinging around on a Valkyrie that just took a missile hit from one of the Hawks, his shields are down to almost nothing and a one-second burst drops him. The Hawks are moving and shooting and darting about like their namesakes, but they're not doing much damage. Another Rheinlander turns in and looks like they're making a torpedo run. Can't have that, so she goes down in a two-second burst. Glue myself to the tail of the third. God, what the hell are these Hawks packing? It's fucking useless, whatever it is. They barely hurt anything with their guns and they don't seem to have many missiles aboard.

A burst of blue laserfire slams into the last Valk. "Alpha One One, Alpha One Two. Sorry for being late." Juni's Defender hammers the last Valk's engines until they give out, then finishes it with a torpedo. A bloody _torpedo_. Overkill much?

"Stranger, you're cleared to dock. Your companion as well."

"_Glorious_, negative. I'll be staying in space." Juni replies.

* * *

Nobody on the deck of the _Glorious_ seems to care much about me. Except the dude in a Corsairs outfit with a gun. I keep my portable comm open and transmitting so Juni can listen in. "Whoa. Easy with that."

"You fought well out there. C'mon; someone wants to see you."

And that old guy with the nasty look must be Quintaine. "Doctor Quintaine?"

"And who are you?" No acknowledgement.

"Name's Trent. Doctor Sinclair's looking for-"

"I find that hard to believe considering she has no idea where I am." Bloody incompetent numptie! Did you even hear what I said? "Now, who sent you?"

"I said she was looking." I state quietly. "She doesn't have to know where you are to look." A man at my back with a gun, another behind Quintaine with a gun. Why do I find it so easy to be stubborn in the face of death?

"Enough!" This man, I must conclude, likes the sound of his own voice, and he was a recluse in the research world because he doesn't know how to cope with anyone who contradicts him. "You do understand with the appearance of our Rheinland friends, I'm hesitant to take too many chances!"

"And your Hawks were accomplishing nothing. Without me that gunboat would have torn this place to shreds." I reply. At some point, hopefully, reality makes a dent in this guy. I know people talk about academics and ivory towers, but most of them I've known recognize when reality's brought an antiship torpedo to a gunfight.

"Yes, and I wanted to thank you for your help." And then comes the point-and-slash gesture. "Push him out the airlock!"

Which is when the _Glorious_ shakes to that old familiar sound of a torpedo impact and the PA announces dock one is offline. "_Glorious_, this is LSF Commander Zane. Be advised: if my companion gets even a whiff of vacuum, I have a full rack of torpedoes with your name on it." Ah. My very angry guardian angel, Jun'ko Zane.

"I have the Dom'Kavash artifact, Professor." I shrug. "Not on me of course, I'm not stupid. But Sinclair is working on it, on Leeds, in hiding. She can't decipher it on her own. Hence why I came to find you."

Quintaine looks annoyed as hell to be outmaneuvered. Suck it up, baldie. You haven't been through half of the shit I have. "Very well, Mister Trent. I will go back with you, but on one condition."

"Name it." I reply.

"We don't go alone." He gestures to his guards, looking smug like he's pulled a fast one on me.

I give him a smirk. "Good. Can always use more guns." Oh, that souring expression. That was so worth it.

* * *

"Mister Trent! I'm flying this Armored Transport. It's slow, but it contains all the equipment I need for my work!" Well, that'll be a bitch to hide on Leeds. Still, possible. Juni's gone on ahead.

"Looks like we're in luck. The intermittent jump hole to Leeds is phase-aligned right not. We should be able to take it safely."

"I'll lead." I reply. "I know the way."

"So Sinclair wants to meet on Leeds? That blight on our culture?" God give me strength to wade through the sea of shit that spews from this man's mouth.

"Ambush!" One Quintaine's Hawks goes down to a missile while still at cruise; the armored transport takes a cruise disruptor.

"Perez and Wallace, protect Quintaine! Mister Trent, you and I are on the gunship!" Amy Albertson's my new wingman's name. I charge the gunboat, firing, but the Rheinlander fighter jocks and the gunship gunners this time are of a higher quality. My shields collapse and I manage to get them back up after taking some serious hull damage. Nanobots patch the worst while I finish the gunboat.

"Gunship down! Target the nearest fighter! We can win this!" Lady, you have no idea. One of the Hawks eats a missile in the canopy, but his wreck collides with the Valkyrie that killed him, destroying it. The other two Rheinlanders are fine gunners, but poor evasive fliers. My shields go down again, but neither of them survives the effort.

"We've got to get out of here." For once I agree with Quintaine.

"There's the jump hole-more fighters!" One dies before the merge. These guys are shooters, and they're free with missiles. But they still don't fly as well as I or Miss Albertson do. She's also pretty free with missiles and gets her own kill quick. I finish the last one while he tries and fails to shake me.

* * *

"We should be safe now. Let's get back on solid ground." Keep talking like that, Quintaine, and you'll get us all killed.

"Trade lane's close by." I reply, leading the way.

"I haven't actually seen Doctor Sinclair in years... She sent me a message awhile back, saying she made a discovery on Pygar. Finally: a Dom'Kavash artifact that's till active." We dock with the tradelane, and... "I can't wait to see it." Quintaine monologuing. This is the sound of my personal hell. When I snap and slaughter everyone at random, I'll just be quoting Quintaine, over and over.

"Albertson, turn around. See you later. Mister Trent, I'll meet you on the planet, you go first." Oh, so you trust me now?

* * *

"Juni." I greet her with relief. "We had to swat our way through Rheinlanders the whole way back. You make it okay?"

"Just fine. Not a sign of them." Juni shakes her head. "They weren't after us, not directly. That's a change."

Quintaine's talking about some guy called Kress, who warned him he was on someone's shit list for his work. The door chimes, and Tobias nods. "I'll deal with this."

Two Rheinlanders. They flash Quintaine's picture and say they're looking for him. Tobias...oh, bless him. "Nice looking chappie. Haven't seen him."

"He is considered an enemy of Rheinland! Anyone hiding him will face severe consequences."

"Now you listen to me: you are not Rheinland now. You're in my shop. I've already told you the man you're looking for isn't here, so unless you'd like an education in foreign policy you'll not soon forget, I'd suggest you move along." The Rheinlanders hesitate. They notice that four Bretonia Police Authority pilots entered the shop behind them and don't appear amused by what's going on. "NOW!" Tobias barks, in a way that convinces me yes, he really was a flight leader with the Royal Space Force.

"We can be patient, Mister Tobias. Rest assured, we won't be far."

"No. I'm sure you won't be." Tobias says to their backs. He nods his thanks to the copper pilots, who nod back respectfully.

"It's just a matter of time before they're back." Juni observes, annoyed.

Tobias, coming over after seeing to the BPA flight's apparently minor needs, agrees. "Now that they've got your scent, it's not safe here anymore."

"Kress! He offered me a place to hide in the Border Worlds. Maybe now is a good time to take him up on it." That's the first thing Quintaine's said that I think is actually _useful_.

"Do you trust him?" Juni asks.

"I trust him more than I trust those Rheinlanders." Quintaine replies. Hard to argue that point.

Juni turns to me. "We need you now Trent. You ready?"

I close my eyes a moment. "Juni. You know you didn't actually have to ask."

Her expression softens a moment as well. "It was polite."

I turn to Tobias. "Now, I want you to get clear of this place for awhile."

"I am not going to be chased out of my home by a bunch of Rheinland scum-" Tobias replies.

"Just until this blows over. You've been better to me and my friends than we deserve, old man. I don't want you hurt. I'll be back when I can." I give him a cocky grin, or my best impression thereof. "Besides, the Queen will be activating reserves soon, if tensions with Rheinland escalate further. Might as well get to your unit, Tobias."


	18. Leaving Home Again

One last gift from Tobias: a Starkiller Torpedo launcher and fifty torpedoes. I hope to god I don't need them just to get out of Leeds, but... We're about to launch. Juni and Quintaine are already in space, Sinclair and I are headed up.

"There you are. Trent, do you think Tobias will be all right? Maybe he should come with us." I never expected Juni to show concern for Tobias of all people. Miraculous, or he's really actually managed to behave.

"Tobias is better off far away from us and the artifact. That's what they're after." It's probably true. God I hope it's true. "Trade lane to Stokes, on to Tau 31?"

"Good a plan as any." Juni replies. Quintaine chimes in, but I've started tuning him out reflexively. Only to discover that the Rheinlanders are waiting at the trade lane.

Juni curses, the Rheinlanders gloat. "We TOLD you we wouldn't be far! Give up the artifact: all exits out of the system are blocked! You cannot get out."

"We'll see about that." Juni replies.

These two can fly; but between me, Juni, and Sinclair, they're way outgunned. It takes me fifteen seconds to bring down one; the other cloaks, much to Sinclair's annoyance; she was moments from getting the kill. Wow, what got into Sinclair? I'm beginning to think the lady missed her calling as a combat pilot.

Back into the trade lane. Quintaine can't believe we're being attacked by Rheinlanders in the middle of Bretonia. Juni gives him the reality check: Rheinland has detained all Kusari citizens inside its borders, violated the Boorman Treaty in the Border Worlds, precipitated several minor armed conflicts with the Bretonian military in the Omega systems, and pulled out of the Liberty-sponsored peace talks while insulting Liberty on the way out. The Colonies are at the brink of war.

"He said all exits out of the system are blocked! What do we do?" Sinclair isn't happy, but for different reasons than before.

"We shoot our way out." I reply, calmly.

"Trent's right. We fight. We're coming up on Stokes, stay sharp." Thank you, whatever guardian deity sent me to Jun'ko Zane that day on Manhattan.

* * *

Coast is clear.

Coast is not clear, four Valks decloaking. Fuck! They hit like a thrown brick. It's not even that I have the wrong shields, they're packing plasma weaponry, Class 8 or Class 9 stuff. Half shields in under a second. "I told you we'd meet again. For the last time, surrender the artifact!"

"COME AND TAKE IT!" Juni shoots back, with all the venom of her at her most enraged. "Trent, we've got incoming. Take the left, I've got the right."

"This is Stokes Smelter, we are under attack by Rheinland warships and need assistance!" One Rheinlander comes apart under my guns. Three to go. "Repeat, this is Stokes Smelter, we are under attack and need assistance! Any Bretonian unit, please respond!"

Juni hammers another, with a victorious whoop of "Two down!" The other two cloak.

"Unknown ships, large numbers of Rheinland ships have been detected in the system. We recommend you land and wait out the crisis!" Stokes thinking on their feet and wanting someone to help them out, or just offering real advice? Doesn't really matter.

Juni thinks the same it seems. "Negative Stokes. We have to get out of Leeds. Trent, take point, I'll cover the rear."

"Let's hope the jump gate is clear." Sinclair mutters it, probably not realizing her comm is transmitting. "It's the only way out of Leeds."

It won't be clear. But once again, I am stubborn. I am not afraid. Not now. Juni's on the comm. "We have to buy Sinclair and Quintaine the time to get through the gate. Trent, you up for this?"

"What's that expression they like in Liberty?" I ask softly. "I was born ready?"

It's hard to tell, with her helmet on, but I think Juni may have just smiled.

* * *

Twenty seconds out from the trade lane terminus, I hear it. "This is Glasgow Outpost, under attack...all Bretonian ships respond. Repeat, this... under attack by Rheinland strike force..."

Six Valks. And the _RNC Saarbrucken_, a Rheinland Heavy Cruiser. Quintaine's losing his mind. The Rheinlanders are saying to give up and we have nowhere else to run and we will be destroyed. And I have never felt so calm in my life. Everything is bright and sharp and clear, and I know exactly what I need to do. Then I kick my burners. "Trent-" Juni begins.

"On the cruiser. Keep the fighters off Quintaine. Torpedo away." The cruiser shoots down the first torpedo, but spends a critical two seconds targeting and knocking it down and targeting me again. A cruiser isn't like anything I've ever fought before. It's huge and nasty and it has enough guns to match a dozen fighters. Military teams take these things down with a full wing of four ships, and expect to lose one doing it. Here, we just have me. Burn straight at it, at least a dozen turrets firing at me, doubles, singles, triples. Shields dropping quick. "Torpedo away." I'm less than a hundred meters out when I launch, direct at the bridge. I actually glance off the cruiser as I break my run; it nearly depletes my shields and I dump some batteries to get them back up, but it makes me a hell of a hard target.

The _Saarbrucken_'s bridge is a crater. Its turret fire is less coordinated, but it's still fighting, still maneuvering. Glasgow is begging for help on every channel. I think I catch a reply from the _RSFS York_, but I'm juking through turret fire still. Quintaine, damn his eyes, has decided that naturally having the biggest thing here he should challenge the biggest thing here, and the _Saarbrucken_ is beating his armored transport to pieces. "Torpedo away." The _Saarbrucken_ diverts fire for a few seconds again to stop the torp, and I burn in right behind it. The gunners hammer me. Shields down. Burn the last of my batteries to get them up. "Torpedo-"

"Open fire chaps, we have to take out that cruiser." Tobias' voice...three Hawks come in on the cruiser, firing Skyrails and heavy missiles; Cannonballs. That's better than a torp! The _Saarbrucken_ ignores me, maneuvering to bring as many guns to bear on them as it can. I drop into its engine wash, and... "Torpedo away."

The _Saarbrucken_ is dead. Just like that, I've killed my first capital ship. "Trent, a fleet of Rheinland ships is only minutes behind us. We have little time. Destroy the fighters, and let's get out of here!" Tobias' voice for sure.

"Copy that, old man." It takes us about a minute to mop up the fighters, who are of a better class of pilot but a worse class of gunner. Glasgow Outpost is looking like somebody chewed on it, but still fighting with its turrets as we duel the Rheinlanders around it and Sinclair chews Quintaine's ass out for tangling with a cruiser.

"This is Glasgow! Radar is clear, no more enemy contacts. You came just in time."

"Glasgow, we need to get these people out of here. The jump gate needs to be locked after we jump through." Tobias directs them, with the confidence of a seasoned veteran. There was a time where I believed his boasts of his days in the RSF were just boasts. That time has now passed.

"Affirmative. Good luck to you!"

"The Bretonian military has been alerted, and the battleship _York_ will be here soon. Good luck, Glasgow! Trent, go: activate the jump gate. We'll regroup on the other side." Tobias in charge of our little group? Juni not objecting? What madness is this?

"Copy that. Grab something to hang onto Tobias, knowing our luck the other side will have hostiles." I warn the old man. I owe him more than I can ever repay by now, but that won't stop me trying.

* * *

"You have our gratitude Mister Tobias." Quintaine does occasionally say things that don't make me want to punch him. Occasionally.

"When I heard about the incident at Stokes, I knew you were in trouble. I called a few friends from my old flying days, and we came as quickly as possible." Tobias replies.

Sinclair tries to thank him more, but Tobias isn't having it. "Bah, enough already. We have to get out of here."

"Trent, the trade lane. Take point?" Juni's actually asking now, not commanding. "We'll follow you."

"We're heading to Holman?" I ask.

Tobias nods to himself as he speaks. "Only base in this entire system. Where were you planning to go?"

Quintaine apparently has an answer: Shinkaku Station. Tau-29, Samura-controlled. So Kusari-ish. That's pretty remote, but not quite "beyond civilization" remote. Tobias seems to know a route. In my current state, I can't quite come up with one. "We're coming up on Holman. Keep your eyes open! If there are Rheinlanders, we won't have the element of surprise this time!"

"Radar is clear." Juni says. "Looks like we managed to shake them."

"The next trade lane takes us to the Tau-29 gate, and from there Shinkaku is easy to reach." Tobias is navigating for us. Normally, that would fill me with dread. Now, I don't think I can do dread. I'm not sure I entirely remember what it means, if I'm honest. I feel like a lot of emotions have simply been torched out of me, removed by the sound of Rheinland guns on my Crusader's armor.

"No ships in the space." I say softly. "This place gets hit by Corsairs constantly. They always have ships in space."

"You're right. Outpost Holman, please come in!" Dead air answers Juni's call. "Something is very wrong."

That would be the _RNC Goethe_, which is a battleship, and a dozen Valks decloaking. I instinctively salvo a torpedo at the battleship, and I'm note I'm not the only one; Tobias' flight does so as well. That makes the defending fighters divert from us to try and stop the spikes. "Tobias, get these people to safety!" One of his two friends. "We'll buy you some time and then retreat to Leeds!"

"Thank you, my friend. Trent, the Tau-29 gate lane!" The Tau-29 trade lane line isn't complete the whole way, the first gate's still being built. But it's complete enough, and it's cleared of obstructions. Jumping to cruise and flying to it and down it. The first active gate's ahead. "There, the lane should be useable from here on! Everyone into the trade lane, quick now."

"What's our plan?" Juni asks.

"The Tau-23 gate's not functional yet." I point out. "But it gets us away from the Rheinlanders."

"Our best option is planet Harris, but it's quite far." Tobias notes.

"Not functional, you mean this is-" Oh shut up you stuffed shirt. The day I actually want Quintaine's opinion is the day I shoot myself.

"Trade lane disruption! Two gunboats!" I head for them at once, even as I'm warning the others.

"We can't make it to Harris from here, but there is a jump hole, intermittent, nearby! It might not work but it's our only option. Trent, you and I will fight the gunships. Everybody else, get to that jump hole, and wait for us there." Somehow, I never dreamed I'd fly wing on Tobias. Somehow, I wonder why that never happened, because it seems like a dream now to fly wing on your old man.

Quintaine skedaddles; so does Sinclair. Juni...doesn't. "Juni, go. They need a fighter with them. I'll be along shortly."

"You damn well better, Edison." She activates her cruise engines even as I fire my first torpedo at the gunboats.

"All right Trent. You and me versus two gunships. Let's see what you've learned since you left Leeds." Tobias makes it a challenge, and I smile under my helmet. The first gunship swerves out to bring more of his guns to bear on me. Big mistake; a torpedo from my ship punches clean through his drive section and he blows up. Tobias is exultant. "Hahaha! We're not such easy prey after all, are we?!"

The second gunboat has to be hammered to death with guns, keeping his stern to us so he can outrun our torps. Tobias and I finish it off in about thirty seconds nonetheless. "Trent, that's enough. They're not going to follow us now. Hopefully the jump hole is phase-aligned, or we're in big trouble." He pauses a moment. "Trent...you did well back there, boy. I'm proud of you."

"Tobias..." I don't have the words now. I really don't. I can't think them up. "Thank you. For everything." It's not enough, I need to say more. I can't, I don't know what, but I do need to say more.

"There you are!" Juni is glad to see us. "We were about to go back and look for you."

"No, we need to get out the system. What's the status of the jump hole?" Tobias, to the point. Please let it be useable.

"I've taken some readings. It should be useable." Juni seems confidant about that. Naturally, I'm first up.

* * *

Tau-23, Shinkaku Station. I've actually been here once before, on a run out of Freeport Six. It's not exactly a crappy place; the Kusari do not allow crappy. The phrase "all is in order" may have originated among Rheinlanders, but it really should have been Kusari. Juni thinks it's crazy this all rests on a message to a bartender, I'm arranging repair and reload for our ships, Quintaine is talking to someone and god I pity that poor man. Tobias is going to part ways here; if war with Rheinland comes, and only god knows how it can't after what they did to Glasgow Outpost, he'll be needed at home.

Quintaine has coordinates. We're launching to space. I say my goodbyes, once again, to Tobias, and give the old man a hug. Quintaine is on the comm. "The bartender warned me that Rheinland ships have been sighted in the area. He suggested we fly through the methane field. It will cover us half of the way, but the rest will be in open space." Mother of mercy, he pronounces it ME-thane. It's METH-ane. If this is the finest scientific mind we have, we're all fucked right and proper.

Into open space, still at cruise.

"Oh...my...GOD." For once, Quintaine's interjection sums up how we all feel.

"That looks like the whole Rheinland fleet." Juni practically whimpers it. Oh, no. Not now, Juni. The angel of anger and flame is what we need now...

Because I am staring at the _RNC Shiller_, a battleship, three cruisers, the _RNC Nestor_, _Rheingau_, and _Bechthol_, two gunboats, _RNC Bhietigheim_ and _Burgha_, and six Valks. "Trent, we can't win this."

"Then we'll give them nightmares about the day we lost, Juni." I reply. "I've got new contacts, coming in very fast."

"Quintaine! Razor One here! Colonel Kress sent us to help you! Fly to these coordinates with the freighter! Quintaine escorts, we could use your help!"

"The _Schiller_ is hit! Man all turrets! All other fighters, engage enemy ships!"

It's all a blur. Green plasma and tachyon gun fire everywhere. Razor Flight is in tooled-out Daggers, but they're only three, and they're only Daggers. "Bullseye! Hit 'em fast and hit 'em hard!" I charge the cruiser _Nestor_, unleashing a torpedo and then using my burners to get ahead of it. It costs me all my shields, but that torpedo, and the second I fired from in closer, get through.

"This is the Nestor! Our hull is buckling-" The transmission cuts off. The "head" of the _Nestor_ containing the bridge and a third of the guns snaps free of the rest of the ship. I swing around and dump a torpedo in the hole it left; the rest of the _Nestor_ explodes.

"Target is taking damage." Juni...Juni is back in the fight, the angry angel once more. Her Defender puts a torpedo into one of the gunboats, knocking it out of control. The gunboat plows into the broadside gun galleries of the _Schiller_, destroying the gunboat and most of the _Schiller_'s portside close-defense turrets. That's too tempting. It takes me about a minute of ducking and weaving and torpedo unloading, but the _Schiller_ breaks in half and starts to explode. Juni's splashed the other gunboat and a couple of fighters. Razor Flight has ganged up on the _RNC Burgha_, and it's on the ropes. Juni finishes it with a torpedo.

Four fighters left, and the _RNC Bhietigheim_. They don't back down, but the odds are much more even now. Juni and I make runs in sequence with torps on the cruiser; in the end, she gets the killshot, but we both unloaded three or four torps. Razor Flight is zipping circles around the Rhineland fighters; those little Daggers don't have as much punch as this fight may have required at the start, but they've got it now. Four minutes, start to finish, and we're clear.

Quintaine's at the waypoint. Razor Leader brings us there too. "The bartender on Shinkaku contacted us. Rheinland ships have been spotted in this system for several days now. When we heard Quintaine was on Shinkaku, we knew he'd likely run into trouble. We should be safe now, but we need to keep moving, there's a jump hole to Tau-23 nearby. Be careful in the methane field; some pockets are explosive.

"Are you taking us to Kress?" Quintaine asks a reasonable question. Next time, on Trent's imagination might be playing tricks on him...

"Yes. Colonel Kress is currently a guest of the Outcasts. He'll be pleased to see you, professor."

* * *

"Juni, when we land, keep an eye on the ships? I'm going to watch Quintaine."

Juni raises her visible eyebrow at me. "Sure about that?"

"It's a base full of Outcasts. He says the wrong thing and somebody has to shoot them before they shoot him. If anyone's shooting Quintaine it's me, so I'm properly motivated." I reply, in dead seriousness. Juni chuckles softly and nods.

"Approaching ships, identify yourselves."

"This is Razor One. We're bringing a visitor to Colonel Kress. We are _expected_." Apparently Razor One has some clout here, or thinks he does, from the way he puts emphasis on that.

"Razor One, your party is clear to land."

* * *

"We just need to find Kress." Quintaine, you fool, we're in a base full of Outcasts. You'll get yourself killed.

"State your business."

"My name is Quintaine. I'm here to see Colonel Kress." Okay, now the rubber meets the road.

"Colonel Kress sees no one." And it's a blowout, too. Oh no-

"He'll see me." Quintaine gets shoved back and the guy starts drawing.

He doesn't finish before I have. "Don't go and do that." I waggle the gun a little. "If I have you attention, will you kindly take us to the Colonel?"

"I think," wow, Quintaine, I think you've met your match in smugness because this guy could power a battleship with sheer smug, "my friend, that you misunderstand your position. I'm expendable." Two guys close in behind; one behind the bodyguard also draws down. And then Juni and fucking _Sinclair_ draw on the two behind us. Since when did Sinclair have a gun?

And then we met Kress. A Rheinlander, from the accent, but wearing a BMM uniform. "Doctor Quintaine! I'm pleased to see that you're all right after all." He waves a hand; his guards lower their weapons. "And you brought protection. Very wise!" I lower my weapon before anyone complains. Kress raises an eyebrow at this, and he seems to grasp that I don't actually work for Quintaine. "Come, we have much to talk about."

Juni and I grab a seat while Quintaine and Sinclair catch up with Kress. Juni looks at me. "You're completely nuts, you know that Trent?"

"We just took on a small Rheinland fleet, Juni. You killed a couple of Rheinland heavy cruisers, and you deserve as much credit for _Schiller_ as I do. We're _all_ crazy here." I must be getting used to her laugh by now, because it doesn't bug me like it used to. I actually feel a lot better too; a minute ago I was adrenaline crashing and worried I'd have the shakes in a second.

Kress nods to us as he also takes a seat. "Mister Trent, Miss Zane. My sincerest apologies for misunderstanding how your little party came to be; even our intelligence has had trouble keeping track of you. You see, when Doctor Sinclair made her discovery, we knew that Doctor Quintaine was one of the few others who could help her. And her discovery caused quite a stir amongst our enemies."

"What enemies?" I think it's fair to ask that. "The Rheinlanders?" Little sarcasm there. His accent makes that unlikely, but still possible.

"Let's just say that your enemies are our enemies." Dammit, Kress. Do straight answers just actually _hurt_ the people I have to deal with? Is there something wrong with me that causes them to act like this?

To the challenge, then. "Give me a straight answer on this, then. Who do you work for, Colonel?"

"The Order, of course." Well, there's a bombshell.

"You work for Orillion? I assume he's not dead, or Sam Lonnigan." I figured as much before, but it's nice to be proved right. Well, except for Lonnigan, but he's not in a position to complain. And he stiffed me, too.

"Despite what you may have heard, we are only interested in freedom and peace." Kress has the gift of sounding normal.

"Then why all of the attacks?" Juni asks. She's not as pointed as you'd expect with that statement, either. Cagey rather than openly hostile.

Kress actually chuckles. "I understand your suspicion, but we are not guilty of nearly as much as your media would suggest. For now, please accept my hospitality in the spirit in which it is offered." And here comes the Science Duo. Kress looks up. "Tell me: what else do you require of me?"

"If I'm right," And lord knows Quintaine can't cope with not being right, "there's something we've overlooked. We need the Proteus Tome."

"The what now?" I interject.

"It's a piece of parchment sealed in a titanium cylinder, covered in Dom'Kavash writing. It's in the Natural History Museum in Kusari, in the archives." Sinclair explains.

Kress nods to himself. "Very well, that shouldn't be difficult. We have an agent in Kusari who may be useful for this, Lord Hakkera. He's a local potentate. He can arrange for its...liberation."

I stand up. "No dice, Kress. I want in on this."

Kress raises an eyebrow at me. "You really don't trust me, do you, Mister Trent?"

I gave him an assessing look. "Not really, no. But if as you say your enemies are our enemies, then I don't want to wait here. I want to be out striking at them. And you wouldn't deny me the chance, if they are really are your enemies."

"Or me!" Juni adds quickly. "If you're going, I'm going." I incline my head towards her gratefully, and add a momentary smile. I don't know if she noticed either, though, considering her eyes were directed towards Kress.

* * *

Razor One gave us an escort to a jump hole to Kyushu. I wanted to ask Juni, before we took off, how she got to Liberty, and whether she was going home as I had. I didn't get the chance. I suppose I'll find out.

"We're in the Okha Dust Field." Juni knows where we are...she wasn't told, just knows. She's been here before... "We'll take the trade lane to planet Aso, then from there to Kyushu. Lord Hakkera is supposed to be in touch with us there."

"It's funny...I used to fly around the asteroid field when I was younger. My grandmother lives on Tsushima Station, above Aso. I haven't been back here in over a decade." That gets me perked up. Juni is coming home. I hope to god her home protects her better than my home protected me.

"We going to stop in for a visit while we're here?" I ask, curious, keeping it neutral.

"We might. If there's time." Juni says it casual too. And she says we. She's okay presenting me to her family? I don't know too much about Kusari culture, but I gather that's a big deal. Family matters here to everyone, in the way that it only matters to a Bretonian if you're nobility. The company you keep reflects on you very strongly as well.

Landing, I'm the only non-Kusari in the bar. I stick out like I've been painted in neon, and everybody stares so much that I have an overpowering urge to check my fly is zipped. Then Lord Hakkera spoke to us, and...everyone else instantly looks away. The doings of a Lord are not to be intruded on by common folk, it seems. Lord Hakkera is not what I expected; he says I expected a terrorist, but the guy has a "Lord" in his name, so terrorist isn't exactly what I expected either. Rather, he dresses somewhat plainly for a Kusari nobleman, but he definitely has an aura to him. It's kind of like Walker; but whereas Walker wasn't always in full command mode, Hakkera just doesn't turn it off. He is the kind of man who will command you to jump, and you will very literally ask "how high" before you brain catches up with you.

There is apparently a problem, and Hakkera is working through it. He suggests we wait. Juni suggests fuck that, she has contacts of her own. She has to go under to talk to them, and I'm not happy about that. Curiously, neither is she, and she says she'll be resurfacing in a day or so to check in.

She also gave me a letter, which I am to hand-deliver to her grandmother. Said it would help.


	19. Settling Into Kusari

So. Kusari. How to explain Kusari.

In Liberty or Bretonia, if you buy something or use something, at least two companies were involved in it. Jump gates and trade lanes run on technology propeitary to Ageira Technologies, but they're actually built by Deep Space Engineering. The cheap clothes you wear may have been made by LPI, but they were shipped by Universal Shipping. If you buy a spaceship in Bretonia, it was probably made by BMM, but it got shipped to where you bought it by Bowex. Your toolkit is made by the Independent Miner's Guild since they make the best spacecraft toolkits out there, but distribution is through Gateway. There are all kinds of little single-planet companies making everything, food, vehicles, etc. Big companies have little companies under them; Detroit Arms in Liberty or Graves Survey &amp; Mining in Bretonia.

Kusari's not like that.

For a spacer's purposes, there are only two companies in Kusari. These are the two largest of the keiretesu: Samura and Kishiro. They are huge vertically integrated companies; groups that handle products from digging out raw materials to running the store the finished product is sold at. Samura is old, dating back to the founding of the Colonies, and is almost an arm of the government; or the government is almost an arm of Samura, which causes problems. Kishiro's the up-and-comer, taking a cue from Ageira about how you make money: own technology everybody needs. They share another thing with Ageira that's of interest to freelancers like me: Kishiro remembers who its friends are.

There are two ways of looking at the piracy problems of Kusari space. If you are a foreigner, and don't get involved with Samura or the government, then you have relatively little to fear. The Hogosha, who are basically the local crime family, will probably harass you. But if you show you are able to defend yourself, they will leave you alone. The Hogosha do not have the luxury of declaring war on freelancers who fight back. The Farmer's Alliance might bother you, if you're suspected of having something to do with Synth Foods or if Samura doesn't like you, since they're basically stooges for Samura's food division which is going under due to Synth Foods. Yes, armed conflict over the inroads of a foreign food company. This is not the only place in the colonies that happens, by the way.

If you do get involved with the government or Samura, you are in much more danger. Kusari is the only society I've ever heard of that had such a bad sexism problem it has an _armed rebellion_ about it. The Golden Chrysanthemum movement is young, female, and full of fire; they mean to change Kusari society for women. I'd be sympathetic, except for the fact they decided the best way to fund themselves was by dealing drugs, an activity I don't have much patience for at all. Ironically, the biggest result of the Golden Chrysanthemum in mainstream Kusari society has been a counterrecruitment effort by the Kusari State Police to recruit young women who are qualified pilots and mechanics before the GC do. And that effort has worked: if you visit the flight deck of a Kusari State Police station, the flight line is more than fifty percent female. Whether the Kusari cure for the GC's recruiting efforts will ultimately be just as barrier-breaking as the disease remains to be seen, but I suspect the answer will be yes.

If you are truly unlucky, you will instead face the Blood Dragons. I've mentioned groups that have good pilots before; the Red Hessians, the Corsairs, even to lesser extent the Lane Hackers. The Blood Dragons are different from all of that. In 321 AS, nearly five centuries ago, Samura-backed elements of the military staged a coup against the anti-Samura Shogun Hideyoshi. The Shogun committed suicide when he thought all was lost. His Royal Guard did not give up so easily. They managed to escape offworld and into Northern Kusari space, and have waged war against Samura and the Kusari government ever since. Every person who has ever had reason to hold a grudge against Samura's near-control of the Kusari government is a Blood Dragon in their hearts if not in their heads, and the movement has the sympathy of highly placed individuals in both the Kusari government and its military. Each Blood Dragon pilot is highly trained, highly motivated, equipped with the best weapons and ships that the Kusari military has to offer thanks to their connections, and has demonstrated repeatedly both their skill in combat and their willingness to die for the cause. They are quite possibly the best fighter pilots in the Colonies.

If I run into some of them, this Crusader might not cut it. Something to keep in mind.

In general Kusari's kind of xenophobic; out in their Edge Worlds and Border Worlds ops you can get a bunk on a Kusari-owned station, but inside their borders it's different. You can rack out on a Kishiro station, sure, or Roppongi Station above New Tokyo, the Narita Outpost, and Deshima Station. Anywhere else in Kusari space, you probably can't overnight. You'll have trouble getting landing clearance for New Tokyo itself and several bases as well, and it is literally forbidden for non-Kusari shipping concerns to ship directly to New Tokyo.

* * *

Ironically, Juni's grandmother wasn't heard to find. She was the only female shift supervisor on Tsushima. I had to get through two layers of functionary, but fortunately, you say "I cannot give you this; I gave my word it would pass through no other hands but my own." and eventually it gets through.

Let's just say I get where Juni got her personality. It wouldn't have been easy to make it this far in Samura as a woman, and Juni's grandmother takes no shit from anyone. I suspect half the reason I had trouble getting to her was people feared provoking her wrath by inflicting some random gaijin on her.

"Shift Supervisor." Bow. Low. And hold it for at least five seconds. "Your granddaughter tasked me with ensuring this message reached you."

She looks amused if anything. "Her taste in men is improving, then."

I give a little shake of the head. "I owe her many favors. I will be returning in a few hours, if you have a reply for her." I made my way to the flight deck and picked up a job from a Samura rep.

There are people you feel good working for; Rhonda Harris, who ran freelancer and Bounty Hunter assignments out of the _Essex_, always made you feel good about your job and was always happy to see you come back when it was done. Ageira Tech always made sure that those who worked for it felt they were among friends. Samura does not do that. Maybe it's just because I'm not Kusari, but I get the distinct impression this Samura guy looked at me, decided "fuck him" and gave me a mission he doesn't expect me to survive.

He was wrong, of course, but the Crusader definitely struggled against those Golden Chrysanthemum Hawks. They can't hurt me well, but they can evade me plenty. Playing for the other guy's mistakes is a strategy that's hard on your ship and your life expectancy. In the high-mobility environment here I really do need to think about a new ship.

When I got back, Juni's grandmother didn't have a reply. But she did treat me very differently. It wasn't exactly _better_...or maybe it was and I just don't get the Kusari nuance of it. But she did have a letter of introduction to the commander of the battleship _KNFS Nagumo_. I know very little about the Kusari Naval Forces. I guess I'm about to find out.

* * *

So, the Kusari Naval Forces are clearly unused to giving out freelancer assignments to non-Kusari. That said, they do something interesting; you're given a "freelancer flight" assignment and teamed with other pilots, rather than filling a slot in a military flight or doing it alone.

There are two freelancer flights out of the Nagumo, Matsu and Fuji. Matsu is composed of veterans of the KNF, Fuji of the rest of us. To hear my new flightmates tell it Matsu is actually a deniable-ops squad and we're the real freelancers. I'm Fuji-5. Fuji-1 is Corporal Kaoru Nakajima, who gives out our assignments and makes sure we're not secretly pirating stuff on the KNF's dime. She flies a Kusari Navy Dragon, which is surprisingly small for a heavy fighter, but I've never seen one in action before so I can't say much about it. Fuji-2 is Shinji Matsumoto, whose flight gear appears to be a relic of his days moving cargo for Kishiro. He flies a Drake light fighter; the cops here use the same thing, and the Drake is a zippy little bastard. Fuji-3 is Leji and Mura Nanshi, a family team who use a Borderworld YX-series Dromedary freighter, and apparently the most dangerous dogfighters on the team despite or because of it. Fuji-4 is Tsukinoyo Higoshi, who I have been told directly I should not trust. That may have to do with her Borderworld Series Y Stiletto heavy fighter, or it may be someone having their undies in a knot; she demonstrates little patience with any pilot who has not proved their skills to her, and even less patience with any male foolish enough to patronize her.

I'm not sure why the hell someone would be patronizing towards anyone who owns a Stiletto, for the record. Perhaps a desire to shuffle off this mortal coil? Lucky me, anyways; it's the Corporal and Tsukinoyo as wingmates for my first mission against some Golden Chrysanthemums that have been spotted near the edge of the Seiran Dust Cloud.

* * *

Startrackers. Five of them came at us in Startrackers. The guns they had strapped to those things, they could barely fire a handful of shots before they ran their gun batteries dry, but still. Startrackers. It's a rare combat mission I feel _good_ after. But I damn near felt like I was strangling kittens with my bare hands here. Four of them died before the merge. If those two Hawks hadn't come in at the end and given us some kind of challenge I'm pretty sure I'd have flown back and sworn off these missions, regardless of the fact there was about thirty cubic meters of Cardamine floating in space at the end. Had to go around making sure it was all torched properly; would have been easier to tractor it and dump it down the gravity well of Aso or something I think, but I don't make those calls here.

The Corporal says I performed "adequately". Tsukinoyo dismissed the mission as "not a test of anyone's skills". Well, she's right about that. Contrary to what I expected, though, being a part of the freelancer flight means I have a bunk on the _Nagumo_. Time to make use of it.

* * *

Got another job, escort to Nansai Research Complex perimeter. Very clear about that; no going further than the perimeter guards. If we get any closer, they will do their level best to kill us. Considering Nansei houses several _tons_ of antimatter that the Kusari Naval Forces are using for propulsion experiments, I have little objection to not getting close. Unless my fighter's about to blow up or something.

It's just Tsukinoyo and me; I begin to get the impression the Corporal is hoping one of us will cause a problem that will let her get rid of us both so she doesn't have to deal with either an asshole or a gaijin. We ran into a pair of Blood Dragons, and they are everything they are advertized to be. Dragon heavy fighters and they know how to use them. I'm pretty sure if I'd been alone I would be an expanding cloud of fine particulate, because the Crusader just wasn't up to turning and burning with these things. Fortunately, there was Tsukinoyo and the freighters. And I get the feeling those freighter gunners had been waiting a long time for their chance to drop the hammer on some Blood Dragons, considering how eager they were to throw fire when Tsukinoyo or I needed to shuck a tail.

The Blood Dragons seemed to be of the mindset that if they killed us, they could destroy the transports at leisure. This was frankly much more sensible than the usual rabble back in Liberty or Bretonia; the only guys who ever understood the importance of dealing with the escorts were the Lane Hackers. Damn near managed it too; I lost an Advanced Skyrail and burned a dozen shield batteries plus some nanobots. I saw Tsukinoyo take some hits too. We got one of the Dragons; the other one limped off.

Their fighters had a weird tendency to shed large structural components under fire. They'd keep fighting, but...yeah. Weird. Not sure if that's a sign of bad or good design.

Nansei, true to xenophobic form, refused to let us land for repairs and sent us back to the _Nagumo_. Along the way some geniuses from the Farmer's Alliance decided to play "kill the people in foreign ships" and came at us with three Hawks. Tuskinoyo berated them in Kusari, which probably didn't help, but they...they just weren't very good pilots, and our blood was up from the fight and Nansei sending us limping away. I think the Farmer's Alliance pilots lasted about seven seconds each.

I dread to think what Tsukinoyo is going to say to the Corporal once we're back on the _Nagumo_.


	20. Barracuda and Matsumoto

Surprisingly, Tsukinoyo did not set our mutual boss on fire. Both of them were also surprised to know that I would not be purchasing a replacement weapon from the _Nagumo_'s stores, though I did get a new shield system; the old one's just not working. Truth is, I've been sitting on a small stash of new guns for awhile now.

My collection of Corsair weapons started, probably obviously, with the two days Juni was my second-seater. I picked up quite a few Angelito Mark I and Mark II weapons that day, and I've been sitting on them; they have similar performance characteristics to my Skyrail/Advanced Skyrail set in everything but damage, but the Crusader's power systems can't handle the Mark II guns. That said, Tuskinoyo was actually quite amused to discover I had a stockpile of Corsair weapons, and seems to have taken it as sign that I am more than some random freelancer. She's downright civil now.

I have a mission to New Toyko with the Corporal and Shinji in three hours; apparently the Corporal is moving documents and files that cannot be transmitted. She didn't actually say that, mind, but unless she's using us to bodyguard for her taking a very short leave I doubt it's anything else. Having examined the Dragon up close and personal, as I was offered one from the _Nagumo_'s stores at a somewhat...inflated price, and seen them in action, I don't think I'll be getting one of those.

Juni's been in touch, and directed me to a ship seller on New Tokyo who should have something that suits my needs. She actually apologized for being under so long, and mentioned she'd be dropping by to see me on New Tokyo if I was around more than a few hours.

* * *

Some Farmers' Alliance types were near the gate from Kyushu, but didn't make a move towards us considering the flight was composed of a majority of Kusari craft. I was annoyed to discover the Alliance isn't actually _illegal_. It is frowned on somewhat, and reprisals are undertaken on occasion when it attacks Kusari citizens, but for the most part despite its violent antipathy to foreigners in general and Synth Foods in particular the Kusari police leave the Alliance alone unless they're dumb enough to do something violent directly in front of the cops. Which they occasionally are.

The Hogosha get roughly the same treatment, although with more foundation. In a society as class-conscious and governed by as strict codes of conduct and obedience as Kusari, the Hogosha provide a necessary service in their activities of influence-peddling and minor criminality. The example Shinji gave me in conversation was that the Hogosha do not typically engage in "hard" crime; murder, drug dealing, or the sale of weapons larger than a pistol. But should a Kusari citizen desperately desire an item he cannot normally obtain or seek to establish a relationship he cannot normally expect to have, the Hogosha provide a means. They provide slack in the system whereby people of exceptional merit may rise within society, rather than against it.

Our trip was otherwise uneventful, aside from that conversation. Shinji was apparently taking pity on an uneducated gaijin to explain such things, but since I genuinely do want to understand and go to some pains to be grateful about it I _think_ that it didn't bother the Corporal. When we landed on New Tokyo, something I got away with because I'm here on business for the KNF direct, I made my excuses.

The ship dealer Juni pointed me to also suggested a Dragon, for a lesser price, but...I've seen them come apart under fire, and I don't really trust them now to be honest. Their wings and tailplanes seem to come off way too easily. There was Rheinland light fighter, a Banshee...I've seen Banshees fight, and they are impressive. They're the heaviest "light" fighters in the Colonies, and a Banshee will probably beat any other light fighter save the Kusari Drake, which will stick to its tail and whittle it down. A few Drakes, and while I like Drakes I've grown accustomed to the having the power of a torpedo launcher in case things go terribly wrong and would rather not part with it.

But there was another ship as well. A Bounty Hunter AP-7031 Barracuda, one of their heavy fighters. I've seen them in action before, around Dublin a few times. This one obviously had history; its former owner had painted an angel with a flame-wreathed sword just behind the cockpit. Something just clicked for me there; I bought the ship on the spot, had it outfitted with my Corsair weapons stash and sold the Bretonian guns I was using before.

The power system is better than Crusader's, so I can mount the Angelitos, four Mark II and two Mark I guns. I'm told there are Corsairs over in Honshu near the Sigma systems, so I might go hunting for spare guns at some point, though I have a couple spare Mark I guns already. The new fighter's a sleek design with its vertical body, large upper and lower tailfins, and sharply forward-swept wings/weapon booms. The pilots I saw flying these in Dublin clearly did not know how to handle their craft, as they showed no special flair over the Armed Forces Crusader flights. Here, now, even on the short atmospheric hop I took it on the Barracuda seems much lighter and more maneuverable than I expected out of a heavy fighter, and miles beyond the Crusader.

* * *

So I'm waiting around my new fighter, next to Shinji, who's interested in where I came up with the guns. I was reasonably truthful about it, but attributed it to a slightly different timeframe; I basically replaced the original run with Tristain and used the modern one with Juni, without being very specific about her.

Which was when a soft voice said "Edison-san," at my shoulder and I turned to find Juni. She was dressed in Kusari traditional, a kimono that was completely proper and showed very little skin. It was still...I think my mouth may have fallen open. It was _very_ flattering on her. She had this lavender lipstick and eyeshadow on too, the current style in Kusari for women, but Juni was getting more out of it than most. She gave me a smile, and I could see the mirth in her eyes, but she didn't actually laugh at me making a fool of myself.

"Jun'ko." I replied. I think I managed to not sound like a teenager at that point, but I'm not really sure. "This is an unexpected pleasure."

"Remember to write, Edison-san," she replied, and walked away, with a smile over her shoulder. I'm pretty sure anyone else would just assume it's friendly, but I know Juni too well. She's going to have fun with my reaction somehow, and it will be fun only for her.

"Who was that, Trent?" Shinji looks a little starstruck himself, despite the fact he's gotta be about forty. Good to know it's not just me.

It also just now occurs to me that Juni is the first Kusari to address me with an honorific, despite the fact they readily use them with each other. I wonder if I'm just assumed to be too dumb to get them in a not-subtle insult, or if the insult is actually supposed to be subtle. "That copilot I mentioned, Matsumoto? That was her." He looked mildly impressed.

* * *

I've been bumped. Three new Kusari-born freelancers came in. The Corporal incorporated them into Fuji and told me and Tsukinoyo that as the most recent hires that were first off the team. The KNF would not be forming another freelancer flight aboard the _Nagumo_. However, we would not be left out in the cold. The KNF said that should we wish to remain in its employ, the battleship _KNFS Matsumoto_ was looking for new recruits.

Tsukinoyo Higoshi responded with a rapid-fire burst of native Kusari that I am fairly sure was a string of curses upon the Corporal as a coward, a fool, and someone who fornicated with her father and her family pets. I was more controlled, simply informing her that my letter of introduction meant the commander of the _Nagumo_ and certain parties in Samura would find her decision interesting. The Corporal hadn't realized I was connected, I guess; she must have assumed that I'd somehow gotten in mistakenly or something. But it was too late to take her mistake back.

The _Matsumoto_ is in Hokkaido, defending the Chugoku Jump Gate construction site. Everyone knows the Chugoku Gate will never be completed, it's an elaborate bluff to put pressure on the the Blood Dragons in their base in the Chugoku system. As a bluff, it's succeeded; the Dragons attack the gate construction often and damage it badly most of the time.

The other problem is that the Chugoku gate site is on the wrong side of the "Gap" in the Hokkaido system. On one side is the Shiden Cloud, a legitimate source of H-Fuel for Samura. On the other side are the Unyo and Kayo Clouds with the Chugoku gate site in the open between them. Permeating the Gap between the sides, and much of the upper clouds, is a massively radioactive area known as the Kyofu. Despite the best efforts to construct a Trade Lane to the worksite, it doesn't work yet. That means that getting to the worksite and the _Matsumoto_ involves making what local pilots refer to as "the Kyofu Run"; a long run through the clouds and open space at cruise speed, mostly through radiation levels high enough to actually degrade your ship's hull.

And hoping the Blood Dragons and Golden Chrysanthemum don't attack you while you do it.

* * *

Talked to Tsukinoyo into actually trying to make the Kyofu Run with me tomorrow. We're bunked out on the Narita Outpost in the New Tokyo system; as the cargo transshipment point for New Tokyo the planet, it's one of the few places an outsider like me can sleep over in the system.

Have to share a two-person bunking compartment with Tsukinoyo here, for the record. I just climbed into bed fully clothed, faced the wall, and stayed that way. I think that actually disappointed her slightly, if anything. When I left a message for Juni before I went to sleep, Tsukinoyo wanted to know if I was calling my girl. I told her, honestly, that I wasn't. Her "such a shame, Trent-sama" was the first time she'd used an honorific and sounded a little bit breathier than normal to my ears. Granted I'm trying to interpret her tone since I didn't _look_ but she did sound a little like she was flirting there, and then a little disappointed I didn't even turn over when I replied.

Woke up unmolested, I think. Still in all my clothes, so that's a plus. We're going in thirty minutes. No point showering here when we'll have to shower again for decon on the _Matsumoto_.

Past Yokohama Shipyards and the gas giant Kitadake. No Blood Dragons, which Tsukinoyo was thankful for; in her words "the Kyofu Run starts at Yokohama, but most pilots don't realize it." We jumped to Hokkaido, and immediately got embroiled in a fight between two wings of KSP Drakes and a wing of Golden Chrysanthemum Hawks. The cops probably had it well in hand, but they seemed oddly grateful for the help. We landed at Sapporo Station near the jump gate; we're going to wait for a convoy making the run and just tag along. It didn't take long to figure out why the cops seemed so happy to see us; morale here is about ready to crack. People come in from their patrols, go directly to the bar, get drunk, and cry their eyes out. Tsukinoyo tried to cover it but she's pretty shocked. She looked at a flight about to leave the station as we dismounted from our ships and said something about "swallowing their tears".

I spent some time talking with the drunk and morose; they're here, stuck in a patrol area that's got poor sight and sensor ranges, fighting the Golden Chrysanthemums. That'd be hard enough, but their Drakes and skills are actually suited to fighting the GC and their Hawks. It is a rather more difficult campaign than normally given to the police, but it is one that, given time, they could win. Then, add the Blood Dragons, and the Kusari State Police are not skilled or armed to be facing off with the Blood Dragons. Their pilot attrition rate is something like 15% per week. One of them told me "Shinanakute wa kaeshite moraenai.", which my somewhat poor Kusari language skills translate to something like "They won't let you go home unless you die."

I hope the _Matsumoto_ isn't like this.

* * *

A Deep Space Engineering convoy is stopping off briefly to top their fuel tanks and run final checks on their guns before making their run to the construction site. I mentioned my work with Ageira Tech and they hired me and Tsukinoyo on the spot for extra escort. We made it out of the Shiden Cloud safely and almost instantly the rad alarms go off. I'm sitting there staring at my hull integrity gauge almost neurotically. This is probably a good way to eat a missile, in retrospect, but you would have to be a madman to fight inside the Kyofu. And as I'm staring at it...the damn things starts dropping. The fighter is being exposed to radiation worse than the inside of a nuclear reactor, enough to alter the atomic bonds of the armor materials and make it brittle. The ships in the convoy are leaving a visible blue glowing wake; Cherenkov radiation.

It's so bad that there's enough here to be a detectable physical force. The formation-keeping autopilot has to apply RCS thrust occasionally to hold station on the DSE supertransport I'm flying next to, because of the radiation pouring out of the system's star. It was a long five minutes in the open before we hit the Unyo cloud, and my hull integrity had actually dropped by about 30% during the exposure. The moment we hit the cloud I deployed nanobots, which was just as well.

Because it was there that the Blood Dragons pounced. The first we knew of it was when the supertransport's cruise engines died. A half-second later one of the two DSE Hawk escorts blew up under concentrated laserfire. Tsukinoyo damned the nebula out loud for ruining sensors and vision. The supertransport crew lost their damn minds, turrets firing in all directions at enemies that probably weren't anywhere close to the aiming points. The other Hawk did some very impressive evasive maneuvers to avoid the transport gunners. I launched a torpedo blind based on where the fire had come from, and pilot's instinct.

A Dragon came roaring out of the clouds, and flew straight into the torpedo. The torp warhead blew it into a spray of briefly glowing gas. "THREE AND LOW!"

That one call, the lucky torpedo hit, seemed to turn things around abruptly. Three more Dragons came in hard and fast, firing at the supertransport, but the gunners were focused on their vector and made their attack plenty bumpy. The DSE Hawk dropped in behind one that broke off his run and started pouring fire into it. Tsukinoyo spiraled down on the other two before they reached the transport and forced them to break formation or be rammed. One of them went to help his buddy against the Hawk, and I was on him in an instant; pouring neutron weapon fire into his shields and then his unshielded hull in under a second. His tailplane and left wing came off and he tried to jink and break into a scissors with his unengaged friend, but his ship just wasn't maneuverable enough. My reticule might as well have been painted on his cockpit, and the next salvo blew through it, killed the pilot, and blasted out of the bottom of the ship. The one the Hawk was chasing came apart, and the pilot ejected. The last Dragon turned, tractored his buddy, and managed to avoid Tsukinoyo's fire long enough to disappear back into the nebula.

"Cowards." Tsukinoyo observed.

"They have a saying in Liberty," I replied, "that any fool can die for a cause. The job is to make the other side's fools die for _their_ cause."

Tsukinoyo chuckled, once. It's not like Juni's laugh, a harsh noise. "But you are Bretonian. And is not your saying that a cowards die a thousand times before their actual death, and the valiant taste of death but once?"

"A man who throws away his life for his own honor ignores his duty as much as a coward does." I replied. "Death is lighter than a feather. Duty is weightier than a mountain."

"Hagekure!" She was actually impressed. "There's hope for you yet, Trent-sama."

We made it to the gate construction site without incident from there, and then doubled back towards the system star, and the _Matsumoto_. The battleship's sensor crew was sharp, and its guns tracked us all the way into the docking bay. It's a disconcerting experience to see a barrel bigger than your body following you as you dock. Corporal Sachiko Kondo runs the only freelancer flight of the _Matsumoto_, Hiei, and she was almost pathetically grateful to see us. I get the sense she doesn't get many freelancers out here, considering that Hiei only had two members before me and Tsukinoyo showed up. She arranged quarters and a quick decon and a-rad pill for both of us, and told us that she would brief us in eight hours.


	21. How We Do Things In Kusari

The _Matsumoto_ is different from the cops, though not as much I would like. The flight group is a stretched to its limit defending the ship and gate site as well as trying to patrol the Unyo Cloud route. They think this whole project is stupid and expect it to all go up in flames shortly. They fret about their losses and failing their duty. The oldest and most deadly enemies of the Kusari state are all around them, seeking their deaths.

And...it's hard to explain, but these pilots burn brightly. You can see it talking to them, watching them move. They firmly believe they are the best the Kusari Naval Forces have to offer, and they can point to the fact of their survival to prove it. Even the ship's crew moves with this spring in their step, flight line support staff, gunners, the quartermasters. They are warriors. They have enemies all about them. Their duties are clear, their comrades skilled and honorable. They have no regrets, no questions about their place. Nothing could be simpler. Nothing could be finer.

I admit I envy them in a way.

Because of the degree to which the flight group is stretched, Hiei flight is expected to handle more of the normal duties than freelancers usually are. We have a place in the patrol rotations and in the alert-flight rotation. We have an escort on the gunboat _KNFS Tanagawa_, along the route of the trade lane. Hiei-1 is the corporal, Sachiko Kondo. Hiei-2 is a man in his sixties who introduced himself as Kazuo Endo. He has the manners of a Buddhist monk and the even tone to match that impression, to the point that the flight line people address him as "Monk". I'm Hiei-3, and Tsukinoyo is Hiei-4. We're exploring alternate routes for the Kyofu Run on the other side of the system from the usual.

* * *

We had a scuffle with some GC Hawks in the Kayo Cloud. They retreated when one of their number was damaged. Sachiko strongly recommended to the gunboat captain that we withdraw, as the Golden Chrysanthemums were doubtless telling all their friends about our course and speed. Which was probably sound advice, as it turned out, but the _Tanagawa_'s captain didn't take it.

We crossed the Gap and were a couple of kilometers into the Shiden Cloud, about to turn towards Sapporo Station, when the wheels came off. I remember very distinctly picking up the transmission that started it. It was very faint, but we were all silent and on edge so I heard it pretty clearly. "All forces in the vicinity, this is Ainu. We have incoming hostiles. Prepare to engage."

The Ainu Depot is what the Golden Chrysanthemum base in the Shiden Cloud is called.

Sachiko must have heard it too, a rare thing for a military pilot to tap all comms like that, and ordered us out of cruise. We didn't realize how close we were until Tsukinoyo saw it through the nebula because of an electrical discharge. She also gave us just enough warning to avoid all being blown to bits when a dozen mixed Blood Dragon and Golden Chrysanthemum fighters roared in at us. The _Tanagawa_ couldn't dodge the way the rest of us could and took a torpedo despite a truly heroic effort by Kazuo that knocked down three others, but somehow kept fighting.

What followed was a classic fighting withdrawal. I lobbed a torpedo in the Ainu Depot's general direction, which distracted a few of Chrysanthemum Hawks, while Tsukinoyo and Kazuo shepherded the _Tanagawa_ and Sachiko kept anyone from blowing me up. And then I kept two very determined Blood Dragons from blowing her up while she lit up the comm with her curses that her shield battery system wasn't working right. She finally got it to trigger and we had to go together to save Tsukinoyo from a trio of Golden Chrysanthemums. Kazuo was seemingly everywhere at once, fighting off a half-dozen Blood Dragons with only meager help from the _Tanagawa_'s turrets. He took a bad hit at the end, but the other three of us were able to chase off most of the Blood Dragons.

I found myself following a Blood Dragon. He dumped a mine at me, but I dodged it with a tap of the burners, and hit him again with a volley. His right wing and tailplane came off and he broke hard, but my guns tracked his maneuver and fired once more, and he came apart. I swung back towards the _Tanagawa_ and spotted another one on a vector that looked like a torpedo run, and hit the burners to rush him, firing. The Blood Dragons have encrypted comms, unlike most, so I don't hear them talking. But they took that first hit, and jinked, and it was obvious to me that they didn't know where I was. He made this classic, gentle, flying school slow left turn looking for me, and he might as well have had a giant question mark hanging over his cockpit to illustrate his confusion. That turn killed him, because it let me glue myself firmly to his tail and by the time he spotted me his right wing had just torn off. A feeble jink was all he managed before the next shot blew his fighter to bits.

I got one more kill, a high-deflection shot. There was nothing special about it; I was throwing a lot of garbage-quality shots at a damaged Blood Dragon and he flew into one of them rather than managing to pick his way through. Pure luck; good for me, bad for him. The Dragons disappeared back into the mists. The Chrysanthemums took a moment longer, losing another Hawk to the combined fire of Sachiko and Tsukinoyo. The two had an oddly good-natured disagreement about who got the killshot.

Sakura Flight off the _Matsumoto_ met us before we recrossed the Gap and shepherded us and the gunboat home. Sachiko told them, with relish, how I had gotten three Blood Dragon kills. Kazuo confirmed it to them. Apparently this is a deal; three is the most Blood Dragons anyone has ever downed in a single sortie, something only two of the _Matsumoto_'s pilots have achieved before.

I was modest. That didn't seem to help.

* * *

Working out of the _Essex_ there was a vague sense of comradery among the pilots. Working out of the _Matsumoto_, flying with these Kusari Naval Forces pilots, it's not vague. It's a physical force; something that hit me like a supertransport at cruise as I dismounted on landing. A dozen flight line crew swarmed over my ship the moment I was engines-off, checking for damage and starting rearm and refuel. The other ships of Hiei Flight were undergoing similar treatment. I got an equal dozen well-wishes in both Kusari and English. Before I made it six steps away from the ship, some Kusari Naval Forces pilot I didn't recognize grabbed my right hand and held it aloft. "_Gaishou isshoku!_ Trent!"

And god strike me dead, they all started _chanting_. Tsukinoyo was giving me this big grin at my obvious confusion, but...you're in a crowd, chanting your name. It's impossible not to get swept up. I defy any human to be unmoved by this situation.

A couple of hours later, in the bar, things had wound down. Kazuo was nowhere to be seen now, he apparently wasn't a drinker. I'd started my stay in Kusari pretty diffident about sake, but by now I was wondering if anyplace in Leeds or Manhattan stocked it. I didn't think I was actually drunk, but I can't swear to it. I was flirting with Tsuki, as she insisted I call her now, and she was flirting back. Sachiko looked mildly jealous and started flirting as well, and rather than a catfight I ended up seeing Tsuki practically invite her to join us.

It was at that point I decided I probably _was_ drunk and made my excuses to retire for the evening.

* * *

I scrambled six hours later with a minor hangover. The _Matsumoto_ was under attack. A proper hot launch from a Kusari battleship is impossible because of where the landing bay is positioned; this protects a weak point against damage but requires a launching fighter to immediately reorient exiting the bay before going to full power and hitting burners. This makes scrambling dangerous, because you can get blasted hanging there.

I very nearly did, though not in the way I expected. An errant torpedo nearly hit me; there were two wings of Navy Dragons in the air trying to stop upwards of two dozen Golden Chrysanthemum Hawks. It wasn't going well; the Hawks were dodging the Navy pilots and seemed more focused on trying to put torpedoes into the _Matsumoto_'s thick hide. Putting a torpedo launcher a Hawk is a bitch of work, since it's a light fighter, but it can be done. I went after the one that launched the torpedo and managed to blast them, then came about to cover Tsuki as she launched. She went straight into it with a pair of Hawks, leaving me to cover Sachiko and Kazuo. Kazuo actually thanked me for it, and then went roaring into a cloud of Golden Chrysanthemum reinforcements followed by Sachiko, so I went to help out Tsuki. We got four or five kills; another good-natured argument with a pair of Navy pilots from Nagara Flight about that last one. The Chrysanthemums retreated after losing a dozen and a half ships, and hit the _Matsumoto_ only once; a torpedo forward stopped by the ship's armor.

This time Tsuki didn't really give me much choice about accepting the kiss after the flight. Not that I'm exactly trying to hold her off with a stick; she's pretty enough and I like her as a person, even as a friend. There's something about her, though, something...maybe a little manic? A little desperate? Not about sex or relationships. She's one of the most confident women I've met there. But she has something to prove in the cockpit and some desperation to be there, even with her ship and her skills. The Stiletto she owns isn't just because she was able to get a Stiletto a.k.a. death on thrusters, like it would be for most people. She owns a Stiletto because of the way people look at someone who owns a Stiletto: as dangerous.

...is she coming on to me because she feels threatened by me now? Not the most dangerous freelancer in the building? Shit, that's a terrible thought. I wish I hadn't had it. I want to like Tsuki.

* * *

Juni wasn't happy to hear where I was. "Trent, that's a deathtrap, the radiation..."

"Fully dosed up. It's manageable, Juni, the KNF isn't like Bretonia Mining and Metals. These people are too good to throw away and so's this ship." I chuckled softly. "Besides, the company's excellent."

"You meet a girl you like or something?" Juni squinted a moment and then laughed. "You did. Don't get her in our trouble, Trent."

"She flies a Series Y. I'm pretty sure she's got enough trouble to bury me in without my ever getting a chance." I replied. "Besides, we haven't gotten in anywhere and she's far from the only good company around here. One question though, about Kusari language." I told her about the chant in the hangar, and Juni's eyebrows went up.

"One touch of the armored gauntlet." She considered for a moment. "Literally, anyways. Colloquially, it's something like 'we'll wipe them out'. I might need you back soon, by the way. Lord Hakkera's run into a problem. The item's come under the direct control of Governor Tekagi."

"That guy on the news? What's up?" Tekagi looked like he could stand a diet and seemed to be making some level of progress with Rheinland in negotiations to defuse the tensions between them and Kusari. On the other hand, a search of Bretonia and Liberty newsfeeds suggested that even by the standards of Kusari aristocrats he was capricious. Also possibly corrupt, and possibly high on the Blood Dragons' hit list after Honshu was hit with a famine and he was rather ruthless in suppressing dissent.

I would like to some day sit down and talk with a Blood Dragon. I suspect I'd find them far more sympathetic than I have most of the Samura reps I've run into.

"Hakkera can only push so far before he oversteps his bounds; he has power as prefect, but the governor has more. He's hit his limit. But I have another option for us to get it, I think." Juni replied. She was being coy about what and why, not that she shouldn't. "I'll be in touch."

"So who is she, Trent?" Tsuki asked from behind me.

I shook my head. "You know, privacy is a thing. She's a business partner, a good friend, and I owe her my life several times over."

Tsuki smirked. "Competition." Say what you want, she's confident when it comes to her sex appeal.

"For all I know Juni's not even into guys." I reply, amused.

"Well, she can join us then. Come on, Sachiko's wanting us for a briefing."


	22. Departing The Pattern

Well, I know now why Tsuki wants to be seen as dangerous.

We're on a brief hop to the gate construction station. Because I'm friendly with Ageira and DSE, I get drafted into this sort of thing to make them feel better and hear what they have to say. Then I usually end up scrambling to defend the station halfway through because that's just what life is like out here.

Today that didn't happen. I just had to break up a fight between Tsuki and the person her parents wanted her to marry, who's a mid-level exec at Samura. I honestly think she intended to put his head through one of the hanger bulkheads, but given how that probably would have vented us all to space, I had to stop her. Then for some reason he thought it was a good idea to pull a stun baton on her and announce a crazy scheme to kidnap her for the marriage.

I don't think this would have gone down well with a Kusari crowd, but it might perhaps have gone down a little better. In the midst of a flight deck being run by Libertonians, that statement flew like a lead balloon. Also, important note to crazy ex-anythings: most freelancers own a gun. Tsuki has a Daumann-made holdout model; I of course still have my Detroit Arms Garner 250 Match.

He complained that we would be punished for this. Tsuki called me her hero and not very subtly invited me to bed. I said not tonight, I have a headache. Allergic to stupid people. She laughed...but now I kind of wonder. Tsuki's made a lot of passes at me. I encourage her I admit, but I wonder if she's playing this game because she thinks she won't win. Flirting is fun, but having met her insane ex...what if she isn't hiding some serious trauma here? And she hits on me because she thinks I'm committed to Juni, so I won't make her follow through.

Which is perceptive, sort of. I am committed to Juni. Just not in that way. Case in point coming up.

* * *

Juni wants me to meet her on Shinigawa, in the New Tokyo system. Hiei Flight is scheduled to escort the DSE Supertransport _Northampton_ out of the system as well, so I gave my notice to Sachiko. She said I would be missed, and to please come back. I told her I would if I could, and I'd stay with Hiei all the way to Sapporo. Tsuki asked me to keep in touch. I...said I would, and I meant it. That surprised me a little.

We ran into a Blood Dragon flight on the way out. Amusingly, they scanned us and reactivated their cruise drives like they ain't seen nothing. I guess Hiei's rep gets around after a couple of weeks. I separated at Sapporo, after wishing well the other flight members.

Shinagawa is Kishiro's headquarters. Juni was, amusingly, wearing an outfit nearly the match of my habitual brown leather jacket, black shirt, and tan pants. She was leaning on the bar, waiting. "You came."

"As I told your grandmother, I owe you many favors." I replied. "What's up Juni?"

She blinked. "Ah. That...explains a few things. Anyway I'm on to something here, but I need you to trust me. If we do this, we do it together, understand? You in?" I gave her a silent look, a bit hurt she'd asked the question. She seemed to realize, after a few moments, who she was talking to and what we'd done together. "I'm not asking for me, Trent. Someone needs reassurance."

"If you said we needed to storm the gates of hell together, then I'd be buying flame-retardant clothes for the trip right after." I replied. "We took down the _Schiller_ together. We escaped Liberty together. I'm with you to the end, whether that's thirty seconds from now or long decades away."

"Thank you." And my normally angry guardian angel spoke, not with anger, but quietly, willing to show her surprise over the strength of that declaration. "We have someone to meet." A little more of the normal Juni in that remark.

A man in...Corsair? No, something else. Juni nodded to him. "Ozu, this is Trent, who I told you about."

"Ah, Mister Trent. Jun'ko speaks highly of you, as do certain pilots whom I know." Okay, friend of Juni's...knows me via other pilots...not KNF. Has too few X chromosomes to be a Chrysanthemum. "Please, sit." Farmer's Alliance? Hogosha?

"Thank you." I reply, sitting as directed. In Kusari, please often accompanies a command, not a request.

"Since Jun'ko's departure to Liberty, many things have changed here. The old ways are dying out as we become more of a melting pot of cultures. Do you understand?" Ozu seemed in no hurry to approach the point, but I suppose he was getting to know me. Friends of Juni's who weren't Liberty citizens probably had to be careful, considering her job as Secret Agent Lady, not to do something that could see them placed under suspicion.

"I believe I do. I've met some of those changes. And been shot at by some of them." I replied. Juni gave me a flash of the angry eyes, but Ozu actually smiled a moment at that statement.

"The one thing that has not changed," Ozu was apparently satisfied by my answer, "is the face of treachery. It is something we have fought for many generations."

"Trent," Juni began, "Ozu is a-"

"Blood Dragon," I finished as it all clicked into place. No one in Hiei had ever seen a Blood Dragon group refuse to engage when it was at similar strength to its opponents. We hadn't scared them. They had been ordered to let Hiei Flight pass. They had been ordered to let _me_ pass.

Ozu nodded. "He is as intelligent as you say, Jun'ko. The reason the Blood Dragons have survived is our ability to adapt and change, to outmaneuver the stronger opponent. This would not be possible without carefully nurtured relationships, Mister Trent. Which brings me to you..." He paused a moment. "I am told that you and the Order seek a certain artifact."

I nodded. "The Proteus Tome. It has fallen under the control of Governor Tekagi."

Ozu sighed. That...was a fairly deep show of emotion, at least for the time I'd seen him. "Yes, Tekagi... He has been acting strangely, even for him, since his return from Rheinland. He has refused food and rest, longer than he has ever done so before, and longer than most humans can. Our sources now say that there is a secret transport being loaded with these artifacts, bound from Tekagi, back to the Chancellor. We believe the Proteus Tome is one of those onboard."

Shipping them back to Rheinland? From Kusari? Given the state of relations between those two houses, that is either a great peace gesture, or... "How much time do we have?"

"Little. Particularly since Tekagi himself might be on that transport." Ozu was grim.

"He's _defecting_?" Mother of mercy. If that doesn't start a war nothing will.

"We believe so. With an offering, of course, to his new lord and master the Chancellor. Our vendetta with Tekagi is an old one, Mister Trent. Unfortunately, we may only have this one last opportunity to repay him for his crimes. Mister Trent, here is what I propose: you and the Order will have what you desire, if you help rid us of Tekagi." This will probably not be easy. However...I've seen Blood Dragons in action. I know what they can do. Ozu does as well, and he is too collected to be a suicidal fanatic.

"Trent," Juni said. "Tekagi is a traitor to his people."

"He deserves to die, for this and many other reasons. Will you do us this service?" Ozu asked, still calm.

I glanced to Juni. "You don't need to pump me up. Ozu has made a compelling case already." I looked back to Ozu. "Agreed."

Ozu smiled thinly, bloodlessly. Lips pulled back across his teeth but not parted. "Excellent. We leave at once."

* * *

"We will take the trade lane to the Honshu Gate." Ozu said. I fell into point naturally; Juni took the rear, naturally. We've done this so many times we don't need to talk about it anymore. "My sources tell me that Tekagi's transport is currently docked at the Yukawa Shipyard in Honshu. It is heavily guarded; apparently they are taking additional cargo onboard..."

"The Tome?" Juni asked.

"It is very possible. Yukawa is a Kishiro base, and Tekagi owns a large portion of that organization. We will not be taking the Honshu gate itself. I have arranged for a flight of Blood Dragon fighters to meet us at a nearby jump hole." Ozu must be fairly senior in the Dragons, but he's not that old; maybe five years more than me.

"Why are we taking the jump hole?" Juni asked.

"Tekagi is a powerful man, Jun'ko. He has many spies. We will have to avoid their notice to succeed." Ozu answered.

Two Dragons were waiting for us. "We have you in range. Awaiting orders."

"Enter formation and follow us to the jump hole." Ozu replied.

"Only three ships?" Juni asked.

"The Blood Dragons are small in numbers, Jun'ko, but they are the best fighter pilots in the colonies." Ozu answered, sounding like a teacher to a student.

"They can do it, Juni." I added. "I've flown against them. The Blood Dragons are everything Ozu says they are."

Through jump hole, a scout reported that the transport was preparing to depart; two heavy weapons platforms and fighter wing defending. Ozu explained the plan: hit hard, hit fast, take out fighters and weapons platforms. The Blood Dragons had a strike team on the station that would seize the transport. "The nebula will cover us most of the way, but the final approach will be in open space. We will have to fly quickly before they detect us. Every second will count. Is everybody ready?"

"Dragon One, ready to engage."

"Dragon Two, ready."

"I'm ready, Ozu." Juni sounds a little shaken. She's not used to being a pirate, I suppose.

Neither am I. But being on the other side of a strike-and-fade sounds appealing after enduring two weeks worth of them in Hokkaido. "Freelancer Alpha, ready."

"Our first target is the weapons platforms." Ozu ordered. He's not like Walker; he doesn't command obedience from your hindbrain. Ozu...he speaks wisely, somehow. I'm not sure how he does it but that's what you hear in his tone: considered and careful wisdom. When he says something with conviction, you believe. When he issues orders, you believe.

I also noted the Blood Dragons are a co-ed organization. The leader of the waiting flight was female. Okay...here we go.

* * *

Six Dragons. Two heavy weapons platforms. I was on the platform duty; everyone else went for the fighters. They killed one on the merge, while I made my run through the shipyard's scaffolding on the platforms. They were tough; it took two passes to down them, but they were lined up nicely so that I could engage them in sequence in a single pass and not lose too much time.

Ozu gave the go order after the second platform went down; then one of the fighters went down and the strike team reported they had caught Tekagi's men off-guard and had pinned them away from the bridge. When we got all but one of the fighters the transport was already out of the scaffold and headed for the nebula, so we disengaged. The last guy decided he didn't feel like dying today.

"Strike Team, what is your status?" Ozu sounded confident, but I suspect he wasn't.

"We lost two of our men, Chu-i, but it was worth it. The cargo pods are full of Gold, Diamonds, and thousands of artifacts." They had the transport's regular comms working. Hmm. Probably not a good idea...might be a tracking function...

"Excellent. Proceed into the nebula."

There wasn't a tracking function, but a response team from Kansai Research Station met us at the edge of the nebula; four Dragons. They did not last long. Ozu's people know their stuff; they're surgical as hell, but they fly their ships like poetry.

* * *

So we jump out through another jump hole. And the first thing we hear...

"Identify yourself or you will be destroyed!"

"This is Chu-i Ozu! Stand down, patrol! We have captured Tekagi's transport, and are escorting it back as ordered." I have never seen a dozen ships lose target lock in perfect unison before. "We are almost there. Jun'ko, Mister Trent, follow me."

"I have the coordinates," Juni acknowledged. "Where are we going?"

Ozu's words were simple. "To Kyoto." The home of the Dragons; a legend among the KNF, never seen, spoken of in hushed tones.

"Kyoto?" Juni whispered. "I don't know anyone who's ever seen it. Ozu, you honor us."

Ozu may have smiled, but with his helmet on, it's hard to be sure. "The honor is ours, Jun'ko. Here you will receive what you came for. Here we will celebrate our victory over Tekagi and Shogun Edo. I will see you shortly."

Kyoto isn't a little asteroid with corridors and rooms cut it in like most pirate bases. They've hollowed out a planetary fragment, installed artificial gravity, and built a damn city inside it. It's incredibly impressive work. Ozu came over after we landed. "Chu-i Ozu, this is amazing! How long have the Blood Dragons been here?"

"Several generations. With Tekagi eliminated, the Edo Shogunate is weaker, and our victory is near." Ozu replied, pleased. He was called away by a subordinate; or perhaps a spy, they were wearing KNF uniform.

"Juni, how long have you known Ozu?" I asked.

"You mean, was he always a radical in the Blood Dragons?" Juni replied. "No, when I knew him he was a promising political student at the Kusari Academy."

I raised an eyebrow. "Too many classes on good government or what?"

She managed a faint smile. "People are changed by their world, Trent. Rarely is the reverse true. Ozu's living proof of that."

Ozu returned at that moment. "We appear to have been deceived. This was the right shipment, but neither the Proteus Tome nor Tekagi were aboard. He was not on the transport as we were lead to believe. Something has changed."

I shook my head. "Never simple. What do we do now?"

"I will make the necessary inquires." Ozu seems rather unphased; he has spent a great deal of time playing cat and mouse when it is not easy to tell the cat, it seems. "For now, I suggest you occupy yourselves with whatever diversions we can offer." He left again, to get started.

Juni looked restless. "Well, we can't just sit here...maybe the Blood Dragons could use a little help!"

I crossed my arms and looked amused. "Thinking about becoming a radical leftist, Juni?" A relative term. The Blood Dragons would be considered right-wingers in Liberty.

Juni apparently didn't realize I was joking. "I'm not on assignment...hell, I'll probably never get another assignment. This is where I find out how the other half lives!"

I made a patting-the-air calm-down gesture. "Juni, I'm not serious...actually no, I am serious, but not the way you think. Meet me in space. I've got a plan that Ozu will be interested in, but I have to do a little recon."


	23. Chogoku Blues

**A/N:** This is the furthest I will probably depart from the Freelancer canon. At least until we get to post-game adventures.

* * *

"So what's your grand plan, Trent?" Juni sounds pretty skeptical.

"We use Ainu Base and the Chrysanthemums, plus whatever Blood Dragons we can get, plus my connections to cripple the _KNFS Matsumoto_'s ability to launch fighters, stage a full assault on the Chugoku Gate construction site, force an evacuation, and destroy it." I replied. "Oh, and also maybe save a woman I know from a lifetime of being pursued buy her insane ex-fiance. Simplicity itself."

"Trent, that's not funny." Juni is rather angry.

"No, it's not. I worked with the freelancer flight on the _Matsumoto_ for two weeks. The flight line gave me a hero's welcome for shooting down three Blood Dragons. I bought a spare ship ID and swapped to it before we left with Ozu thinking I wanted to be able to play nice with the KNF afterwards, if only to be stealthy." I smirked. "I can get close enough to deliver one good torpedo into the _Matsumoto_'s hanger bay doors. The rest...that's up to the Blood Dragons and Golden Chrysanthemums. I need you to sell the plan to Ozu. I'll be reestablishing my cover."

Juni gave me a look that suggested I had grown horns. "Don't be far. Meet me on Ainu in two days, okay? We need to work out more details."

* * *

Everyone was happy to see me. Tsuki, it turned out, especially; her ex had been camping on the gate construction station. The flight was sleeping shifts in case he somehow got aboard, so that either Tsuki could defend herself or someone would be around to protect her while she slept.

Crazy. They were quite certain he could probably get away with kidnapping attempt; apparently his family is very highly placed inside Samura and could make the crime disappear with their connections to the government. Sachiko was furious, Tsuki was frightened, and Kazuo was philosophical. This may be easier than I thought.

* * *

"Tsuki." She hugged me, hard enough to drive the breath from my lungs. I made a bit of a squeak and she eased off. "Woah. That bad?"

"Trent, he could disappear me into the night for rape and torture until I was a broken shell," she said softly. "It is worse than 'that bad'. I cannot simply kill him; I would love to challenge him properly, to face him in space, but that will never happen."

I closed my eyes a moment. "Never is a long time, Tsuki." Opening my eyes again. "We can always hope the Blood Dragons manage to kill him, right?"

"I'm not that lucky," she muttered.

"You can be." I replied. Tsuki looked up. She was hopeful, not horrified, not confused. This _could_ work.

* * *

"Ainu, this is Freelancer Alpha One Dash One. I have two friendlies with me. I'm here to meet Jun'ko Zane. I am expected."

"Freelancer Alpha, one of your companions is a Kusari Naval Forces pilot."

"Affirmative, Ainu. She's a friend." I replied. Buy it, you Cardamine-fueled fool. The more I saw of the Golden Chrysanthemums the more they scared me. They're not a feminist group; they're on a holy mission to establish a matriarchal society where the men of Kusari are suppressed and all the women are hooked on Cardamine. They take their founder's works of poetry as religious prophecy, they have a mysticism fueled by the use of hallucinogenic drugs that alter your genetics, and they give these drugs to children as young as five.

Sharing the same universe as these people, and the Outcasts who supply them, makes me feel vaguely ill. "Freelancer, you are cleared into Dock One."

* * *

Ozu was waiting. "Mister Trent. Jun'ko has suggested I try to convince you not to do this, but your offer...is intriguing."

I chuckled softly. "I thought it might be. May I present my companions?" I gestured. "Corporal Sachiko Kondo of the Kusari Naval Forces, head of Hiei Flight on the _Matsumoto_. And freelancer Tsukinoyo Higori, also of Hiei Flight. Ladies, Chu-i Ozu, of the Blood Dragons."

Sachiko looks like she's going to have a heart attack as she manages to squeak out a "Chu-i" on coming face to face with a man who has been built up to a living devil for her. Ozu gives her a polite bow; not too deep or long, but enough of a gesture to calm her. Tsuki gives him a once over and remains rigidly neutral in expression.

Ozu nods. "We have a small space set aside here for our needs. Please, follow me. We should discuss such matters in private."

It was in fact a fairly small space, adjacent to the flight deck. Cozy with four people. Juni hadn't shown up, probably to avoid encouraging me. "Where is Jun'ko?" I asked, curious what her excuses were.

"She was delayed, but will arrive later." Ozu gave me tiny smile. "I do not envy you that conversation, Mister Trent." He turned to Sachiko. "Corporal, I must ask: why do you come to this meeting?"

Sachiko took a deep breath. "I could give you a host of reasons. The Chugoku gate project serves no one. It is the result of utter corruption. It has cost billions of credits that could have been used to the betterment of Kusari. It has cost the lives of dozens of brave Kusari on both sides, and many otherwise innocent and often quite brave gaijin have been killed in the crossfire." She nodded toward me. "Trent has seen the _Matsumoto_. Its people are good, brave, honorable. The cause is not to your liking, but with war with Rheinland coming, it serves no purpose to continue this battle. The _Matsumoto_ and her pilots will be needed. None of us want to see the country under the Chancellor's yoke."

Ozu nodded slowly. "You speak well, Corporal. Has Trent told you his plan?"

"No, save that it will remove the _Matsumoto_ from the system, and end the gate." Sachiko responded. "He suggested it would be possible, but perhaps not wise, for me to stay afterwards."

Ozu glanced at Tsuki. "And you, Higoshi?"

"My parents wanted me to marry Kawanomu Ishigowa." Tsuki said. "I want nothing to do with him or with Samura. He has made...threats. There are few places in the Colonies I could flee to and be safe."

Ozu nodded. "I have heard the name. He is uncouth in his pursuits and...interests." Damn Ozu, what don't you know? "Mister Trent, perhaps you would care to outline your plan? I would be interested if it has changed."

"The plan is relatively simple. I have...certain friends in Ageira Technologies who believe that they are throwing good money after bad, and even that this entire project is an effort by Samura to steal their jump gate tech; stolen things could be hidden amid the combat losses. They provided me with specific information about the design of the gate and the construction station that would enable the gate to be destroyed with a single well-placed torpedo...though I had to give my word I would not allow this information to the hands of anyone but myself or Jun'ko Zane." I shrugged at Ozu. "That was their price, Chu-i. There are other risks as well."

Ozu raised an eyebrow. "Explain."

"The torpedo will be destroying a specific piece of technology that will result in a higher-dimensional breach. The gate will simply vanish. There is a risk that it will instead cause a Dallas-like though significantly smaller explosion, however. It is not high; the Ageira employees I spoke to suggested it no more than the risk you could crack your fighter canopy but punching it." Fighter canopies could repel small-arms fire easily ninety-nine times out of a hundred. A human-powered blow had a one-in-a-hundred-million chance of breaking a fighter canopy. "The greater risk is to the pilot who must approach the _Matsumoto_. At the upper edge of the docking bay doors is a weak point. A torpedo or a powerful missile could disable the flight deck and jam the doors, preventing the _Matsumoto_ from launching fighters."

Tsuki stared at me wide-eyed. "Your countrymen would kill each other?"

"They have their secrets to protect." I replied softly. "And they are not heartless. A few torpedoes into the main work transfer arm will separate the station from the gate first. With the _Matsumoto_ unable to respond, it will give us several minutes, allowing those workers on the gate to retreat to the station. Then we sever the two and destroy the gate."

Ozu leaned back. "It is a workable plan. The _Matsumoto_'s fighter wings will not all be in the hanger, of course. The ship maintains a strong defense. It will take many of the Blood Dragons' available forces to carry out this plan."

I gestured towards the door. "The Chrysanthemums could supply more fighters, even if I find their focus on drug use...distasteful." Tsuki made a face that said she agreed. That explained why a qualified combat pilot like her hadn't been recruited by them; the recruiters had probably asked her to take Cardamine and she told them to fuck off.

Ozu nodded. "They could. However, we may oppose the Edo Shogunate, but we are loyal to the people of Kusari. As Corporal Kondo pointed out, the _Matsumoto_ may well be needed to defend the people of Kusari soon. And the Chrysanthemums are not always restrained. I will discuss the matter with other Dragons." He glanced to Sachiko. "You have been silent, Corporal."

She shook her head. "I am...somewhat overwhelmed by what we are discussing. To promise is one thing, to plan another. In three days, Hiei Flight has a patrol to the-" She cut off as the door opened.

Juni, in her LSF outfit, looking annoyed. "Ozu, tell me he's given up on this idea?"

"No, Jun'ko. He's actually recruited members of his flight and refined it to reduce casualties among the construction crew." Ozu replied, with what may have been a trace of amusement. I'm not really sure; I never actually heard Ozu crack a joke or laugh in the time I knew him.

Tsuki was watching my reaction to Juni's presence closely, I noted. I wondered what she saw. "Juni, what do you know about the Graham Protocol?"

"Ageira Tech's emergency scuttle order for their proprietary..." She trailed off. "That report you wanted from the Blood Dragons hitting the Samura convoy last week."

"The Samura convoy that had Gate and Lane parts aboard, in direct defiance of all contracts and treaties. I got in touch with Pueblo, who got in touch with Deep Space Engineering. The Chogoku project is now considered compromised, and possibly a ploy for Samura to steal tech from the start. Ageira and Deep Space Engineering will publicly deny any involvement, but they would very much like us to arrange for the project to be scuttled and will offer some assistance towards that goal."

Juni sat down. "You're crazy. But you might make this work."

* * *

Three days later, Hiei Flight was returning from patrol one ship short. Sachiko's fighter had suffered a drive failure during an engagement with Blood Dragon ships, and she had ordered us out when a dozen more joined the fight.

In actuality, she had shut down her drives, and no more than shield damage had been taken on either side. The Golden Chrysanthemums had proved...unruly to Blood Dragon suggestions though, and we were forced to kill a couple on the way back to the _Matsumoto_.

None of us had talked to Kazuo. He was too hard to read and we didn't know what he'd do. Tsuki would be keeping an eye on him while I disabled the _Matsumoto_. Sachiko had worked out patrol schedules and ready flights and chosen the time. The _Matsumoto_ would have only one wing in the air for Combat Aerospace Patrol and another returning from Sapporo two minutes behind us. The flight of KNF Dragons in the air all had torpedo launchers. The only cruise disruptor was on Kazuo's Series X Dagger. Hopefully, he would hesitate to fire.

"Matsumoto, this is Hiei-3. Hiei-1 didn't make it. Hiei flight requests permission to dock." I lead us in, parking in such a way that the ship will blank Kazuo's fire towards us as we escape while we head in. Kazuo didn't want the flight command; he's always said that in the event Sachiko is unable to command, he will defer to me. "Construction Site, are you receiving? We picked up a transmission from the Graham. They had to turn back."

"Roger." The construction site recalls its work teams quietly at the codeword.

"Hiei Flight. Your request to dock is granted." They know me now, and the big guns don't track me when I land. Thankfully. Five seconds to contact. Pitch up. Doors moving. Fire torpedo.

Out of the corner of my eye I spot the turret that covers the landing area start to crank a barrel I could crawl into around even as the doors to the landing bay jam a meter open. The babble on the comm is complete madness as I RCS to the side and engage my cruise engines while coming about. Some of the _Matsumoto_'s flak opens fire. Kazuo is on the other side of the ship as Tsuki and I burn hard for the station.

Cruise drive at 90%. Kazuo's Dagger appears around the ship and he locks on. I switch to the encryption the Blood Dragons use. "Tsuki. Do not wait for me."

"Trent-"

"I'll be fine. Go." The cruise disruptor lances out and strikes home just a second after I hit cruise. Oh well, run on burners it is then, right as the wing of KNF Dragons descends on me. Roll and RCS and zigzag. I take hits, shields dropping, but not as fast as they might. One of my hands is on the stick, the other is about ready to mash the shield batteries button.

Two dozen Blood Dragon fighters come roaring out of the Kayo Cloud. The _Matsumoto_ wing and Kazuo retreat back to the ship, aware they can only fight that many enemies with the help of the battleship's turrets. Tsuki is pounding the station/gate connecting spar with her guns, but she doesn't have a torpedo launcher to break it down quick. A wing of Dragons swoops in and does the job. The station fires its position-maintenance thrusters to get away from the gate, though at the time, cut loose, it'll look like they're getting away from the torpedoes.

"Juni-"

"Like hell, Trent. Torpedo away." There is a flash. A brief impression of blue light and gold highlights and something like the "sparkles" of a jump tunnel's entrance. They start to expand, and I remember yelling at Juni to get away, get away from it-

And just like that, the Chugoku Gate is gone.


	24. On Track

My radar is dead. Whatever just happened hashed everything with enough microwave radiation to destroy the radar before the safety circuits could trip to protect it. The Radar Warning Receiver screeched once with a dozen locks from every vector and then died as well. I'm blind. I won't even know if someone's targeting me unless they ping me with a ranging laser.

The radio is producing an occasional garbled syllable, but mostly silence. Only god knows if I'm picking up fragments of a transmission, or just general garbage being mistaken for one. I hit the squelch switch to see if I could tell and immediately regretted it as a junk screech blasted my ears before I flipped the switch back.

The Dragons are hard to spot visually, they are small ships with surprisingly even smaller drive flares, yellow ones. Two, separated by a few meters horizontally but in space good luck orienting yourself right at a glance. I can pick out...maybe a dozen. No way to tell friend from foe, which makes me nervous. I'm obviously a bad guy if any KNF pilot wanders over here, while I'll have trouble telling KNF Dragons from Blood Dragon Dragons.

Blue flare. Two of them, large over small, separated by a few meters. That's Tsukinoyo's Stiletto. Where the hell is Juni? Did we just Dallas this up? There's a distinct lack of the obvious dark-matter clouds associated with the Dallas incident, but I don't know how this stuff works; I'd need another twenty years of physics schooling to get this.

A single large blue drive flare. Oh thank god; I close on it and it's Juni's Defender, which...seems to have seen better days. It's heavily scorched. Including the cockpit; I can't actually see Juni, even though I think she has the armor panels back. "Freelancer Alpha One-One to One-Two, over."

Scratchy, almost coherent response. I think she heard me, or somebody did. Move in to only fifty meters; Juni _hasn't_ rolled back the armor panels...or she was having trouble getting them back. They start moving now, though. I can see her Juni and her distinctive blue and gold flight helmet, and she's looking at me, I think...her head's a little down in a way that worries me. Tsuki's also formed on us, slipping in on Juni's opposite wing. "One-One to One-Two. Over."

It's scratchy, but it's a reply. "One-Two here. Kind of messed up." She's alive. "Radar ou-" her voice cuts a moment. "Nav out, RWR out. My guns still track on the hunter-killer system but I have no status lights for them. Half my cockpit indicators are shorted."

"Copy. You're my wing. Stay close, Juni."

She didn't argue, and I was glad she didn't argue. "Forming on you."

* * *

"Freelancer Alpha, you are cleared for Bay One."

We were landing at Ainu. I didn't particularly want to, but there was little other option. Juni's Defender might not make it through a jump hole transit and some of the Blood Dragons were in similar shape. The Kyofu isn't quite as bad on this side of the system but I was sweating bullets about our rad exposure, even if we'd all used nanobots to try and get our hulls back in order.

"Ainu, Freelancer Alpha. We have a group of seriously hurt fighters here. Recommend crash procedures."

"Confirm. Crash procedures."

I went in first, then waited on the deck until Juni and Tsuki landed before popping my canopy. Tsuki had trouble with her landing gear. Juni couldn't get her cockpit open, we had to pull the rescue handles and get it to fire the explosive bolts, as if for an ejection. All three of us were staggering a bit, adrenaline crashing. One of the Blood Dragon fighters burst into flames when it hit atmosphere and had to be sprayed with fire suppressants while landing, which got us all pumping adrenaline again for a few moments and made the adrenaline crash infinitely worse. We must have made an interesting picture, the three of us, slumping against Juni's Defender, trying to support each other.

At some point we all decided we should probably try to get off the flight deck, and stumbled, still trying to support each other, making it halfway before I tripped and took us all down. Somehow I managed to end up on the bottom anyways, though.

I admire their fitness, but that musculature on those two isn't light even if it is slim. Muscle is denser than fat, and besides I am pretty sure the only fat anywhere on either Juni or Tsuki was on their chest. Tsuki's butt landing on my stomach was like getting hit with a solid metal lump. Juni's legs falling across mine weren't much better, or the arm in the face that I'm not sure who it was, or the combined upper body thing once we'd all reached equilibrium with the floor. It hurt a bunch. I probably would have been even more pained but in my exhaustion there was more dull aching and less ow fuck ow. Juni, in her own adrenaline-crash state, thought it was funny and started giggling.

I should probably have held that against her more, but I just couldn't summon the energy. Tsuki said something in Kusari to Juni that I was so tired I just couldn't figure out, which made the giggles into at least a brief burst of actual laughter. I say at least because I don't really know how long it lasted. My body noticed it was very tired and I was horizontal, and decided it was done with this consciousness bullshit.

* * *

I admit that on reflection, I kind of resent the fact I wasn't able to appreciate the half a minute or so I had two beautiful Kusari women all over me, regardless of how it happened. I also resent not knowing what Tsuki said, strongly tempered by the fact it is Tsukinoyo and I probably don't want to know as much as I think I do.

I don't, for the record, resent the fact those two carried my unconscious self off the flight deck. I suppose that might be regarded as weird, to some guys, that a couple of women dragged them around. I know these two well enough to know they're more than capable of it, and if my ego was that easily threatened... Actually, if my ego was that easily threatened I probably would never have taken Juni's job offer. And be very dead. Belief in gender equality saved my life.

We're flying back to Kyoto. I think I'm going to foist credit on Ozu and Juni, beg off any party, and catch some more sleep.

* * *

I woke up to discover the world had gone mad. Rheinland's declared war on Liberty and Kusari.

The _LNS Rio Grande_ and fresh-from-refit _LNS Yukon_ stood their ground against five Rheinland battleships in the Bering system and managed to kill two, but the _Rio Grande_ was badly damaged by a swarm of Rheinland cruisers. The _LNS Harmony_ had to escape the Hudson system via a jump hole when another five Rhineland battleships invaded and the only way to stop them getting into Texas was by blowing the jump gate. Liberty has moved nearly their entire navy into the fight and is still outnumbered marginally. The Sigma Systems are a mess as the GMG and the Kusari Naval Forces try to stop the Rheinlanders, but apparently they've failed; Rheinland ships have been fighting the KNF in Honshu. The _Matsumoto_ left for Honshu as soon as they got the hanger doors fixed.

This is crazy. Liberty has the strongest of the House Navies, and the Kusari Naval Forces have been predicated on being able to defeat Rheinland's since the 80 Years War, but they're losing. Rheinland has far more forces than even the most pessimistic estimates of the other Houses suggested. Bretonnia hasn't been attacked and is mobilizing for war, but some people are talking about coming _on Rheinland's side!_ The Queen doesn't seem like she'll go for it, but the bastards! I _saw_ them attack civilian stations in Leeds, and people want to support them?

There's reports of skirmishing in every system in the Colonies. Even the Red Hessians and Corsairs fighting back in Omega are hip-deep in Rheinland Navy fighters. The Chancellor would have to throw the economy into overheat, beggar the entire nation to pay for all this, enough to destroy it. Even if Rheinland wins, they'll be broke and their industries will collapse completely. They'll lose the peace no matter the outcome of the war. It's insane.

Ozu wants to see me.

* * *

Ozu was looking grim. "Mister Trent."

"Chu-i Ozu." I replied. "You required me for something."

"I have news. The Proteus Tome, and Tekagi, have left the palace. He has removed himself to a remote retreat, a planetoid with many defenses. A significant contingent of the Kusari Naval Forces have been detailed to guard him as well, making it doubly important he be eliminated; the _Musashi_ should be defending Kusari's people in this time of crisis." Ozu looked at me closely. "This will not be easy, Mister Trent, but I believe it possible. I have assembled a strike force."

"What about Jun'ko?" I ask, raising an eyebrow.

"There is a real risk we will fail, Mister Trent. If we do, someone who understands the importance of what we attempted must be left alive to work out a better way." Ozu replied quietly.

Ozu never seemed to consider we might fail when we raided Tekagi's transport. When I volunteered to go at the _Matsumoto_ and set up the destruction of the Chugoku gate, he was certain of success. These were risky things. The Chugoku gate depended completely on me, and he doesn't even know me that well. This must be near-suicide.

And that calm settles over me, and I nod. "I'm in. We launch immediately?"

Ozu gave me a tiny smile. "Indeed."

* * *

"Tekagi has retreated to Tohoku, a system Kusari uses for naval exercises, and The Arch, one of the architectural wonders of the colonies. Now he uses it as his personal fortress, and no one has visited it in several years save by his leave." Ozu said, just after we launched.

I saw pictures of The Arch, when I was just starting out. It's exactly what you think it is; a single soaring arch-span over a planetoid, kilometers high, the largest single structure built under gravity in the Colonies, and the only orbital ones that are bigger are a couple of naval shipyards and the InterSpace Commerce stations over New Tokyo and Manhattan.

And then Juni cut in. "Trent, Ozu! The deck crew said you're going to attack the Arch! You're insane!"

Ozu replied. "This is our last chance, Jun'ko. Tekagi is leaving for Rheinland. We have decided to attack Tekagi's base with full force. We will find the Tome and kill Tekagi! Wish us luck. Ozu out."

And that fierce look on Juni. I swear she was looking directly at me. "Then you better come back. You understand?"

I was going to reply, but she cut the signal.

* * *

Ozu is worried; after decades of naval exercises, and with his subordinates reporting Tekagi has recently stepped up patrols (Christ, where is he getting the people? There's a bloody war!), the system is literred with defense systems, sensors, and patrol wings, though we haven't run into any yet. There's a station here, the Dragons have somehow managed to keep hidden, and...

You know, they assaulted a Kusari shipyard within spitting distance of the Kansai Research Complex, one of the most fortified locations in Kusari space, with three Dragons, me, and Juni. We left with me, Ozu, and two Dragons from Chugoku. There are _seven _Blood Dragons here joining formation. That makes ten counting Ozu. I'm pretty sure that fleet centered on the _RNC Schiller_ I fought once upon a time (was it really just a month or so ago?) would have wet themselves and run away screaming for their mommies if ten Blood Dragons came at them.

What the hell am I getting into? Well, I'm about to find out. We hit a flight of eight fighters before we even exited the nebula we were using as cover, then...

"Mister Trent, the Tohoku Planetary Arch. Once one of the wonders of Kusari ingenuity, it is now a fortress of deceit, and evil." _KNFS Musashi_. At least one Kusari gunboat. A dozen fighters. A Kusari Navy destroyer. I've heard of them, but there are supposed to be only about six or seven, specialized antifighter ships. This is going to be bad.

They're good by the way. At least as good as the Dragons. They cost us three fighters almost at once. Worse, some kind of shield protected the Arch; looked like nothing I've ever seen before. Naturally, that had to go, but the Dragons...the Dragons were getting clobbered, bad. Hideously bad. They had to run even as Ozu and I got aboard.

No opposition on the deck. Then again, picking a fight with a fighter is never wise. "Do you think Tekagi's gone?" I asked Ozu.

"We will soon find out." And he pulls his gun and apparently us two are commando-raiding the most fortified place in Kusari space. Joy. Then again, there are only three guards, and Ozu shot them all. Hey, it's a simple solution, but it works. Ozu sets charges on a table in the middle of Tekagi's quarters, while I stand watch...and then we get gassed like a pair of chumps. Which, to be honest, we were.

I come around to two KNF guards and...the fat man himself. And for some reason I'm not bound. _Everyone_ is insane today, it seems.

"Breathtaking, isn't it?" He seems to be referring to the...I thought that was a window, but the way it rippled a little when touched it, that's a force field. Holding in the atmosphere. Expensive. Dangerous too. But very pretty. "It is one of a kind, much like this." A gesture to the Proteus Tome. "You and your Dragon friend here have broken into my home, killed my servants, to deprive me of the Proteus Tome and my life." He gives Ozu's chair a push, spinning it around, and waking Ozu up. "Why?"

Maybe it's just me, but I think that part's obvious. I didn't get the chance to say so, because then Tekagi goes nuts, slapping Ozu and screaming the question again. I get halfway out of my seat before I get a rifle butt in the stomach. "Now now, keep your seat. I wouldn't want anything bad to happen to you, not until we have had a chance to talk, Mister Trent." I suppose I shouldn't be surprised they could ID me, in person. Fingerprints or DNA or something, wouldn't be hard. "Leave us."

And his guards walk out. Is he insane? Like, completely, utterly? Ozu still has the detonator for the bomb, too. Everyone's gone mad. "So, what's to keep me from killing you right now and taking the Tome, exactly?"

"I think I'm more than match for the two of you," he can't be serious, he's incredibly out of shape and against two very fit combat pilots who want him dead and aren't restrained, "on the other hand, maybe I should even the odds."

"Ozu!" Son of a bitch! He had some kind of springloaded spike gadget up his sleeve, Ozu's hurt bad! I get up to check him...the knife is all the way through the back of the chair...and then Tekagi starts moving.

"Be sure Mister Trent. Do you really know with who you are dealing?"

And that was the point that things got_ indescribably fucked up.  
_


	25. What The Hell Are Rails?

A/N: Now you discover why Tsukinoyo Higoshi exists; she replaces Cobo from the game, a one-mission character who actually had a real name, unlike Razor One.

* * *

I recall Tristain once having described a particularly psychotic Liberty Rogue as, "He stared into the abyss long, so the abyss sucked out his eyeballs and his brain, made itself comfy in his skull, and started driving him around while making choo-choo noises." I think we're right at that point now.

Tekagi's eyes start glowing. No, I'm not kidding, they're glowing this pinkish color, and they've got an aura of the same color, and what in the _fuck _is going on? He starts doing an I-Am-Legion voice and there's lightning crackling inside his mouth or something and around his hands, which are leaving little clouds of _something _as they move. "You're going to tell me what I want to know, about the Tome, the Order, _everything_." His eyes are pools of white light, they hurt to look at they're so bright, I'm trying to keep the conference table between me and him, _what the fuck is going on?_ Fuck me if it doesn't look like Tekagi is possessed or has supernatural powers but that's _insane!_

And then suddenly there's an ominous rumble, and outside the forcefield window is a Border World Series X Dagger fighter, with...Lord Hakkera at the controls. I'm having some kind of gas-induced hallucination, aren't I? My head hurts from where I fell when I was gassed, but I suppose that's not proof. This isn't real. That'd be nice. Hakkera is making get-down gestures and his fighter's guns are tracking inward-

Oh shit.

I ducked. Then I hit the floor. Then I cockroach-crawled flat on the floor while Hakkera pumped three volleys of Disinfector 2 neutron fire into Tekagi, rendering me momentarily deaf and I think the back of my clothes are scorched. Ozu lifted the detonator and Hakkera was turning and opening his cargo bay and it seems pretty obvious I need to get the hell out of here before all the atmosphere leaves, I can feel it pulling out the ex-forcefield, and I grabbed the Tome before it could fly out the window and headed that way and _holy shit Tekagi is getting back up, that should have turned him to vapor on the first salvo-_

I thumped into the Dagger's hold, the jump made easy by the gale-force winds pushing me. It shut. I heard the rumble of an explosion. Clear skies and following winds, Ozu. Hakkera got me back to my ship, and we were out of there fast as possible. "We have to get back to Kyoto. I'm sending you the jump-hole coordinates."

"Already on my way," I replied, engaging my cruise drive for that destination, having remembered roughly my entry vector.

And the we were intercepted by two Rheinland gunboats supported by Kusari Navy fighters, because my day wasn't weird enough yet. Granted being attacked by both sides of war in concert isn't much compared to _supernatural possession _and all but points for effort. I got a couple fighters and Gunboat, but Juni and some Dragons rolled in from the opposite side, and Hakkera was packing some _nasty_ shit on that fighter, whatever it was. One of his missile shots blew a Dragon clean in half from full shields.

"Last one! That'll set them back for a while; we've got to get the hell out of here, c'mon! Wait, where's Ozu?" I wasn't about to try to explain this shit to Juni, so I didn't answer her.

"He didn't make it. He sacrificed his life to end Tekagi's reign." Hakkera said.

"How?"

Juni, if I knew that...I opened my mouth and was probably about to get hysterical again, but Hakkera spoke first. "He was killed by a Nomad. We only know a few things about them; they are species with the ability to possess humans, and have been slowly infiltrating the colonies. It appears that they are mostly targeting high-ranking government and military officials. Tekagi was one of these people. Up until today, no one had ever seen Nomad display itself openly, and lived to talk about it." _Motherfucker!_ Nobody tells me I'm going to be fighting aliens from beyond sanity? Why does nobody tell me that? "We can discuss this further, in Chugoku."

We made the jump, and Juni wanted answers. I think I was too furious and confused to even string together words that weren't profane. "Lord Hakkera, _what_ is going on? How long have you known about these Nomads?"

"Before we ever met. The Order was founded to protect us from the Nomads." Son of a- "Several months ago, a Rheinland expedition to an uncharted planet found...something. Soon after that, key positions in the Rheinland government were replaced, and Rheinland's politics become more and more aggressive. We believe these Nomads attempted to infilitrate the Liberty government when Admiral Schultzkey came to visit Manhattan. We had to prevent this at all costs, which is why _we_ destroyed the _Donau_." So that really was the Order. With all that's gone on, I kind of wondered.

"Incoming flight, this is Kyoto. State your identity." And there's Kyoto base.

"This is Lord Hakkera, we are on approach." Hakkera responds. Well, he's probably senior to the rest of us, technically.

"We have been awaiting you for some time, Lord Hakkera. What news do you bring?"

"Our mission was successful. We have the Proteus Tome, and Lord Tekagi is dead. But we paid a high price for this. Several brave Dragons, _Chu-i_ Ozu among them, are gone."

"Understood. Long live the Dragons! Their sacrifices were not in vain." And if you knew what was going on _your head would explode_, by the way.

* * *

My first reaction on the deck was to check on Juni. She'd been relatively quiet landing, and looked kind of broken up. I wasn't sure what comfort I could offer; apparently she and Ozu were closer than I would have thought, considering how long they'd been apart, but she and I had a brief discussion of what happened there. She...full LSF investigatory mode was _trying_ to break through, but it wasn't getting anywhere. She's messed up, more than she ever seemed over the Liberty thing. I...did what I could. Even gave her a hug, while we were talking. Then I left her with Tsuki, who's taken a shine to Juni for some reason and was just getting in from something else.

Hakkera was waiting. "I expected you to confront me much earlier, Mister Trent."

"I had a friend to look after. And I'm not sure what to say to you, exactly." I replied.

"There are more sacrifices are being made than you will _ever_ hear in the news. Men like Ozu are dying every day." Hakkera trying to justify himself?

I made a sharp, slashing gesture, both hands, starting chest level and in front of me and moving out. "Don't give me that! That's the state of the Colonies _normally_, where cops and military pilots die every day to keep the peace, where people like Ozu die fighting for their beliefs. This is an alien invasion, and _very not normal_. Can you honestly be so callous? You knew what we were going up against and didn't tell us!"

"Tell you what? That we were being invaded by an alien force we didn't understand? That we had finally come up against something that was more powerful than our own hubris? Hmm? Would that have helped? That's why the Order was formed Trent!"

And then I cut him off. "You think I'm not committed by this point? You think if you told me I'd just fly out of here? I'm a dead man walking unless the Order pulls this out, because of the Artifact. Everyone wants that thing and the contents of my head. The Order may be comfortable not telling me what I need to know, but it put itself at risk doing it, risk I'd get caught and spill everything. You may be comfortable not telling me what this about, but by doing so you measurably increased the risk to yourself and to the Order. Because I know _everything_ about the Artifact, who's got it, what they need. I would have flown to the Arch regardless. I would have also been better-prepared had I known the stakes, as would Ozu, and less eager to rush into a room and become trapped."

I crossed my arms at Hakkera, looking him straight in the eyes the whole time. "Do you think me a coward, Lord Hakkera? Or a fool? I see few other options." It turns out a month in Kusari teaches you how to talk like Kusari, at least for the basics.

He looked back at me, for several long moments, and then the faintest hint of a smile. "Perhaps you _have_ been misjudged, freelancer. Very well. Get some rest, I will have something for you soon."

* * *

Sleep was not something I could do. I can't even close my eyes, honestly. I just see Tekagi again. I spent four hours tinkering with Barracuda, which took some damage during the Arch attack. Repairs weren't hard; I got them done myself, even, without much help from the mechanics. Something had hit the nose art of the angel with flaming sword, so I also enlisted some help to get it repainted. It came out looking a little more Kusari this time, which I suppose was inevitable with two Kusari to one anyone else working on it, and also female this time, which I actually requested.

Actually, truth be told, it looks a little like Juni. Wrong hair and not too much, but a little. I think the deck crew guys are reading things into other things.

I met up with Juni and Hakkera in the hole in the wall that pass for a bar here. "I am interrupting anything?"

Juni shook her head. She still seems subdued, but it's not as bad. "No. Lord Hakkera was just telling me about Ozu, how he died. I'm glad you made it back, though."

I nodded. "With his help. Both their help, really."

"Your thanks," Hakkera said, "is unnecessary. But I do require your help with something."

"All right." Like I said earlier, I'm pretty much in this until the Order wins or I die.

"When we first met, I had lost contact with an agent. His name is von Claussen. He works for the order, deep in Rheinland space. He discovered information regarding Rheinland's war plans, but also a key piece of information: the initial Rheinland expedition that the Nomads infected, where it went, who was on it. We have not had this information before, and it would be most useful. Once we know where they started, we can work forward. The value of Rheinland's war plans is obvious. But he has dropped out of contact, and my usual resources in Rheinland are unable to help. We must extract Herr von Claussen." Hakkera explains.

"I saw the news." Rheinland is rounding up Liberty and Kusari citizens, arresting them on sight. Mostly. Apparently they're just shooting the Kusari sometimes. "I've been hanging out with Juni a lot, but I'm not actually an intelligence agent, though."

"I know, but I have little choice. You are a native Bretonian citizen, and resourceful. I have arranged a ship transponder and false identity papers that will withstand scrutiny, and you have thoughtfully changed the most identifying mark on your ship," Juni looks up at that, raising her eyebrows, "which will have to be enough. You will be Larkin Trent, a notable Bounty Hunter of Bretonian descent, explaining your ship, weapons, and giving you the right to carry a personal arm on Rheinland worlds. You are looking for a Red Hessian operative, suspected to be a part of The Order. On New Berlin. I will give you all I know about von Claussen and his activities."

I nod. Juni looks listless. "I can't go, can I?" she asks.

"They'd probably just shoot you. You _look_ Kusari." I reply. Deep breath.

"And I need you to carry the Proteus Tome back to Doctor Quintaine." Hakkera adds. I feel a brief moment of sympathy for Juni. "Come, Mister Trent. We should go. Every minute aids our enemies."

* * *

I didn't launch alone. Aside from Hakkera and Juni, there was Tsukinoyo in her Stiletto, and five Blood Dragons as an honor guard. I assumed they were there for Hakkera, kind of, because Tsuki formed on him. Juni wished me good luck, and turned away towards her task. I told her to fly safe.

Then, to my surprise, the Blood Dragons formed on _me_. They're not here as an honor guard for Hakkera. He's apparently sold them on the story that it was Ozu and I who killed Tekagi, more or less alone. Modest, I guess? Either way, I'm now Officially A Big Deal to the Dragons. Someday, maybe, I'll be able to come back and see what that actually means.

"A change of plans, Mister Trent," Hakkera started, "take the lead. We just got news that Rheinland has conquered the Sigma systems completely. All bases and jump gates are under their control."

"There's a jump hole in Sigma-13 that can get you to New Berlin; we'll escort you there." Tsuki said. "After that, though, you're alone. Sorry Trent."

"Being a freelance fighter pilot means being alone." I observed. "Well, except for the when you work for the Kusari Naval Forces." We flew to the jump hole in silence, and then in Sigma 13, the Crow Nebula was quiet. At least for a little while. There were Rheinlanders around somewhere.

Like right there. "Oh my Lord..." Tsuki trails off. It's a bigger fleet than the one that I had to take down with Razor One and Juni. Two battleships, _Fenrir_ and _Jormungand_, four cruisers, _Bremerhaven_, _Aachen_, _Greifswald_, and _Schwerin_. But they're Rheinlanders, not Blood Dragons.

"Freelancer Alpha One, splash one." The old routine. There are probably people more qualified than I at taking down Rheinland Valkyries in the history the Colonies, but I'm definitely getting up there. Besides, he's only a distraction. The real target is ahead; the _RNC Bremerhaven_ turns out of formation to engage. I'm about to 1v1 head on with a cruiser.

It's a bad choice for the cruiser. I unloaded three torps and emptied my gun batteries as I flashed past, crippling it. A quick reverse and a gun pass finished it. The Blood Dragons are swatting Rheinland fighters easily, but they're not used to the big guns on the big ships and shy away from them. "Trent, are you mad?" Tsuki demanded.

"That's not my first Rheinland cruiser, Tsuki." I replied calmly. "Engaging the _Schwerin_." Tsuki made a noise of disbelief while I swatted aside a particularly persistent Valkyrie and dove on the _Schwerin_ from above, going for his gun turrets. Actually knocked a couple out in that pass, hit it with a couple of torpedoes. It takes another pass and two torps to finish, and the Rheinland fighters are almost all gone. There are two or three left, hiding in the shadow of the _Fenrir_'s guns.

Which makes the _Jormungand_ an obvious target. In a Crusader, with fighters and gunships all over my ass, even with it crippled, the _RNC Schiller_ was a tough target. In the more nimble Barracuda, with no fighter or gunship protection, and only a couple slow heavy cruisers trying to cope with a swarm of fighters that are poking them cautiously, the _Jormungand_ is all but helpless. Yes, it had a couple dozen turrets shooting at me at anyone time, but...turrets just aren't as scary as fighters, and I have torpedoes, better shields, and much better guns now. It took me exactly a minute and a half from my first shot, though some of the Blood Dragons contributed.

"Edison, you _magnificent son of a bitch_!" I think Tsuki would propose marriage at this moment from the tone of her voice, but she's decided I'm insane. Or maybe she's come to the conclusion I'm out of her league now.

"Trent, we should move on." Hakkera says.

"We can take them." I reply calmly.

"They're not worth the time," he replies. "Let us go."

I shook my head, but I turned away from a run on the _Griefswald_. We turned away, and the surviving Rheinlanders were not eager to follow. Through the Yanagi Debris Field; Rheinland's history of losing wars, from the decisive battle of the 80 Years War with the GMG, right here. A little pick-me-up, and I'd say it's a nice touch but it's not intentional. The jump hole is in the middle of it. Old Imperial Rheinland Fleet ship hulls scattered around, broken.

"This is as far as we can go, Trent." Tsuki says. "Good luck. And call me."

Well, it's not a marriage proposal, but I knew she'd say _something_ like that...

* * *

And thus, Rheinland. I believe the phrase is "the belly of the beast". von Claussen is on the run on New Berlin, so I'm headed there. There are two cruisers, a battleship, and a half-dozen gunboats over New Berlin as I move into dock, but the ring checks my clearances and says I'm okay. Customs doesn't even want to process me; the docking ring's clearance is enough. I can walk around New Berlin in apparent perfect safety, gun and all. I hit a couple contact points, no dice, and was on the third.

"Excuse me sir, may we interest you in a reading for what the future may hold for you?" Couple of guys, ALG jacket on talky, and Samura Heavy Industries on the other, which looks weird to my eyes on a non-Kusari.

"No, thanks."

"Contact the dearly departed," he gets up and seems weirdly insistent. "Help you find someone?"

"What's the deal?" I asked, mainly stalling for time.

"Mister Blix here is never wrong about such things. He says you are looking for someone." Well, that was probably obvious from the way I was acting- "Herr von Claussen?"

Oh what the fuck. "Does he," I gestured to Blix, "speak for himself?"

Blix then made a sound that should not come from a human throat and purple light spilled out of an artifact in front of him.

And I went for my gun.


End file.
